The announcement comes just as the appeal of Asian debt grows due to falling yields in the US and Europe. When a new member gets added to a benchmark like FTSE’s US$30 trillion ($39.11 trillion) World Government Bond Index, global funds tracking the gauge need to buy that country’s debt.
South Korea will join FTSE Russell’s major global bond index next year, paving the way for tens of billions of dollars of inflows after an overhaul of the country’s financial market infrastructure.
The index provider is also adding India to its gauge of emerging market debt from 2025, citing the government’s progress in improving market access. Vietnamese stocks, meantime, remained on a watch list for an upgrade to emerging market, while Greek equities were added to a list for a potential inclusion as a developed market.
