Greece Downgraded to Emerging Market Status

Global indexing firm MSCI has reclassified Greece as an emerging market, stripping it of its developed-markets status.

The Balkan country failed to meet criteria regarding securities borrowing and lending facilities, short selling and transferability, said MSCI.

Greece, which has been at the epicentre of Europe's financial crisis, is in its sixth year of recession and unemployment is nearly 27 percent.

Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, two rising stars of the Middle East, were meanwhile promoted by MSCI to emerging-markets status from frontier.

Morocco was cut to a frontier market.

Investors look to changes in MSCI indexes as they are largely followed as benchmarks for both mutual and exchange-traded funds.

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