LONDON (Reuters) – FTSE Russell has launched an index series to track frontier market local currency bonds, the latest sign of interest in an expanding part of global debt markets.
The FTSE Frontier Emerging Markets Government Bond Index Series, which includes a market value weighted index and a 10% country capped index, measures the performance of 13 fixed-rate local currency government bond markets, the index provider said on Tuesday.
Bangladesh, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Vietnam are all eligible for market inclusion at the index launch, with bonds with a total market value of around $414.8 billion.
Egypt, Ghana and some other frontier markets have proven popular recently as ample liquidity and low interest rates globally help push capital flows to riskier assets.
Market inclusion in the new series will be reviewed semi-annually in March and September.
(Reporting by Tom Arnold in London; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
