SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea will prepare within this year a roadmap for its stock market to win developed market status from a global index provider, the country’s acting finance minister said on Tuesday.
The move is part of market reform pledges by President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month, to win an upgrade from emerging market status to developed market status by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) to attract capital inflows.
The government will prepare a comprehensive roadmap to bring improvements in market accessibility and implement measures as soon as they are prepared, Acting Finance Minister Lee Hyoung-il said at a task-force meeting.
“Through the promotion to the MSCI developed market index, we will establish an investment environment that is in line with global standards and advance our foreign exchange and capital markets,” Minister Lee said.
Last month, MSCI kept South Korea on its emerging market index, as it said more needed to be done, particularly on the foreign exchange market, though it acknowledged an improvement in short-selling accessibility.
The benchmark KOSPI stock index has been rallying since President Lee’s election victory in early June, hitting its highest level in nearly four years on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Jihoon LeeEditing by Ed Davies)
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