JP Morgan consults on including Gulf states in key bond index | Reuters

JP Morgan consults on including Gulf states in key bond index | Reuters:

JP Morgan has started a consultation on including Gulf states in its widely tracked emerging market government bond indexes, although a number of issues remain sticking points.

JP Morgan’s EMBI bond index is a key performance benchmark for emerging market investors. Inclusion in the index can encourage hundreds of billions of dollars of buying of that country’s bonds, lowering its borrowing costs.

Slides produced as part of the bank’s annual index “governance consultation” first looked at various metrics for Gulf states, whose relatively high incomes don’t always fit the standard definition of an “emerging” market.