#Saudi equity market upgrades bring in $10.8bln of foreign inflows this year: IIF | ZAWYA MENA Edition

Saudi equity market upgrades bring in $10.8bln of foreign inflows this year: IIF | ZAWYA MENA Edition:

Saudi Arabia has attracted $10.8 billion worth of foreign equity investment as a result of upgrades to its stock market to emerging market status by index providers FTSE Russell and MSCI, according to a new paper.

The Institute of International Finance (IIF) said that its Capital Flows Tracker highlighted that "foreign investors have significantly increased their exposure to Saudi equities" ahead of MSCI's upgrade, which began late last month. It will take place in two tranches - in May and August. FTSE Russell's upgrade began in March and will be spread over five tranches. (Read more here).

The IIF said that May was generally a poor month for emerging market equities, with outflows of $14.7 billion experienced during the month - about half of this was money pulled from Chinese equities.