Businessmen in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) hailed the upgradation of Pakistan Stock Exchange to the emerging market index status by the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) and termed it a highly positive development as it will encourage foreign investors to consider Pakistan as an attractive destination for investment. It will also create better opportunities for private sector to generate funds from capital market for expansion and growth.
Addressing a meeting, the President of ICCI Atif Ikram Sheikh said that Pakistan’s inclusion in the emerging markets index was a healthy sign for the economy as it will give a sense of confidence to foreign investors, provide much needed impetus to the capital market and attract more foreign inflows to the country. He said inclusion of Pakistan in emerging markets index reflected the fact that the country was achieving better growth in terms of liquidity and market size.
He said that MSCI Emerging Markets was the most widely-used index by investors in the developing countries and hoped that the grant of emerging market status to Pakistan will lead to further strengthening of the capital market. He also said that it will channel more savings to productive sectors of the economy through capital market as companies listed on stock exchange will increase investment in machinery and plants which will subsequently generate employment and income for the common man and lead to accelerated and sustainable economic development of the country.
Businessmen said that investor-protection was crucial for the better development of the capital market and stressed that the government should take measures for investor-protection to promote their confidence in capital markets. They were of the view that a delicate balance between strong regulations that should not impede market growth and protection measures to promote fairness and transparency in the market by the regulators, market participants and capital market institutions were the need of the hour to pave way for the growth and development of a vibrant capital market in the country.
