HONG KONG, March 13: Markit has included Pakistan in the new iTraxx credit default swap indexes that cover Asia excluding Japan, indicating increasing interest in the country from credit investors.

Pakistan is becoming more active in raising money in global capital markets despite its volatile political situation.

Last month the country said it was considering issuing a sovereign bond issue, although it has yet to provide further details behind its plan.

Markit published on Thursday the provisional list for its series 9 iTraxx indexes covering the region excluding Japan, which will replace the existing series 8 indexes later this month.

The final composition of the regional lists will be published on Tuesday morning in Asia.

Pakistan was included in the new 25-member iTraxx Asia ex-Japan high-yield index, while PT Indosat Tbk, Indonesia’s second-largest mobile phone firm, was removed from the list.

No major changes were made to the 50-member iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index.

PTTAR is the product of a merger between Aromatics (Thailand) and Rayong Refinery that was completed in December 2007. —Reuters