The rescue of embattled Chinese property company Evergrande appears to have stalled, leaving the developer on the brink of default and threatening to unleash contagion through the country’s giant real estate sector, home prices and the economy.
The problems enveloping Evergrande, which has eyewatering total debts of $305bn, have hung over global financial markets in recent weeks and helped curb China’s post-pandemic recovery.
But the crisis could deepen further if Evergrande fails to meet a deadline of Monday to stump up a $83.5m bond interest payment, triggering an official default.
Evergrande has already been given a 30-day grace period to make the repayment after missing the initial deadline back in September. It has since missed other key offshore, dollar-denominated bond payments worth another $193.3m. The clock is now ticking on those debts as well.