JPMorgan to drop UAE from emerging market bond indexes: What to know
A rift between the two Gulf heavyweights has emerged in areas ranging from foreign policy to trade.
JPMorgan Chase, one of the world’s largest banks, announced on Tuesday that it will remove the United Arab Emirates from its emerging market bond indexes by June as the Gulf country is now too wealthy to be included.
What happened: The New York-based lender said in a statement that the UAE will be omitted from the list after it surpassed the bank’s income thresholds for three consecutive years. The UAE will be phased out in four stages starting on March 31.
The country’s per capita income and cost of living have reached developing market levels, key criteria followed by JPMorgan. Bloomberg reported that the UAE’s GDP was nearly $54,000 per person in 2024.
Why it matters: JPMorgan’s EM bond index is widely tracked by investors and companies around the world. It allows international investors to buy EM debt and because the index is an international benchmark, it helps countries sell bonds and reduce borrowing costs.
The UAE’s removal comes as the gap between the richest and poorest countries in the Middle East widens, with the Gulf states becoming increasingly more affluent. Last year, JPMorgan removed Kuwait and Qatar from its EM bond benchmarks for the same reason.
As the UAE represents 4.1% of the JP Morgan Global Diversified EM Bond Index, its removal will impact the value of the bonds of other countries on the index.
JPMorgan index analysts estimate that once the UAE’s removal is complete, the headline spread on the Emerging Markets Bond Index Global Diversified will widen by around 10 basis points (0.1%). The headline spread, often referred to as the "spread to worst" in bond markets, is the average weighted spread for the entire index. The spread is the difference between the higher buy price and the lower sell price, so the higher the spread, the higher the trading cost.
In 2018, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia entered JPMorgan’s emerging market bond indexes.
Know more: In September 2025, Saudi Arabia was added to JPMorgan’s EM Bond Index Watchlist in recognition of the kingdom’s efforts to deepen market liquidity and expand global investor participation, including with Islamic bonds and other debt capital market financial instruments.
In an October interview with Saudi broadcaster Al Arabiya, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon lauded the kingdom's transformation and deepening role in global finance. Dimon said that Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf region were crucial to the bank's long-term strategy.
