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FTSE places Egypt on potential demotion watch list

Egyptian stock exchange Reuters/Shokry Hussien
The Egyptian Exchange bell is seen at the stock exchange in Cairo. The market is at risk of becoming unclassified

Global index provider FTSE Russell will add Egypt and Pakistan to the watch lists for potential demotion in its equity index suites.

The two countries will be on watch lists for demotion from “secondary emerging markets”, with Egypt moving to become an “unclassified market” and Pakistan getting “frontier market” status.

“Market participants and index users have reported ongoing delays to their ability to repatriate capital from Egypt since March 2023,” the index provider said in a statement.

FTSE Russell has expressed these concerns to the Egyptian market authorities and will continue the engagement process to ascertain the expected duration of the delays and the issues international investors face when trying to repatriate capital.

In addition, Vietnam will remain on the list for a possible upgrade from “frontier market” to “secondary emerging”.

FTSE will update the watch list status of Egypt, Vietnam and Pakistan as part of its equity country classification in March 2024.