IFC drops Portugal Index
By Journal of Indexes Staff

The IFC has decided to cease to maintain indexes on Portugal as of April 1, 1999. Portugal has been included in the company's IFC Investable and Global Index series, as well as IFCI and IFCG regional and composite indexes.

Portugal's economic growth and development were factors in the decision to remove it from IFC's indexes, as was the country's acceptance into the European Monetary Union.

"Because of the Euro and the European Union, we expect it to move more like a European market," said Shannon Laughlin, a market analyst for the IFC's Emerging Markets Database in explaining the change.