NEW YORK: MSCI Inc. a leading provider of critical decision support tools and services for the global investment community, announced today that it will reclassify the MSCI Pakistan Indexes from Emerging Markets to Frontier Markets.
This conclusion follows feedback received from market participants from its recent Consultation on a Market Reclassification Proposal for the MSCI Pakistan Index. MSCI will reclassify the MSCI Pakistan Indexes from Emerging Markets to Frontier Markets in one step, coinciding with the November 2021 Semi-Annual Index Review (SAIR). Based on a simulation using pro forma data as of August 31, 2021, this would lead to the inclusion of four securities in the MSCI Frontier Markets Index with an estimated index weight of 1.90 percent.
Although the Pakistani equity market meets the requirements for Market Accessibility under the classification framework for Emerging Markets, it no longer meets the standards for Size and Liquidity. More specifically, index continuity rules, as described in section 2.4 of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes Methodology, have been applied since the November 2018 Semi-Annual Index Review to maintain the required three constituents in the MSCI Pakistan Index.
Since the November 2019 SAIR, there have been no securities in the MSCI Pakistan equity universe that meet the Emerging Markets Size and Liquidity criteria within the MSCI Market Classification Framework.
Starting with the November 2021 SAIR, the MSCI Pakistan Indexes will be rebalanced using Size and Liquidity requirements for Smaller, Average Liquidity Frontier Markets as described in section 5.2 of the MSCI Global Investable Market Indexes Methodology.
MSCI downgrades Pakistan from emerging to frontier market
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MSCI downgrades Pakistan from emerging to frontier market
- Pakistani market meets requirements for Market Accessibility under Emerging Markets but not standards for Size and Liquidity
- MSCI will reclassify the MSCI Pakistan Indexes from Emerging Markets to Frontier Markets in one step
Suicide bomber kills at least five at wedding in northwest Pakistan
- Attack took place in Dera Ismail Khan, targeting the home of a local peace committee member
- Peace committees are community-based groups that report militant activity to security forces
PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 10 others after detonating explosives at a wedding ceremony in northwestern Pakistan on Friday, officials said, in an attack that underscored persistent militant violence in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The blast took place at the home of a local peace committee member in Dera Ismail Khan district, where guests had gathered for a wedding, police and emergency officials said.
Peace committees in the region are informal, community-based groups that work with security forces to report militant activity and maintain order, making their members frequent targets of attacks.
“A blast occurred near Qureshi Moor in Dera Ismail Khan. Authorities have recovered five bodies and shifted 10 injured to hospital,” said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial Rescue 1122 emergency service, adding that the rescue operation was ongoing.
Police said the attacker blew himself up inside the house during the ceremony and that the bomber’s head had been recovered, confirming it was a suicide attack.
Several members of the local peace committee were present at the time, raising fears the toll could rise.
District Police Officer Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada said authorities had launched an investigation into the incident, while security forces sealed off the area.
Militant attacks have surged in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the Taliban returned to power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021, with the administration in Islamabad blaming the Afghan government for “facilitating” cross-border attacks targeting Pakistani civilians and security forces. However, Kabul has repeatedly denied the allegation.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has also seen frequent intelligence-based operations by security forces targeting suspected militants.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack.
