This is the long-awaited week of reckoning for the world’s most indebted property developer. Interest payment deadlines are looming for China’s Evergrande, whose total liabilities of $306bn amount to about 2 per cent of national gross domestic product. The fallout is just beginning. Investors in China are scrambling to avoid contagion.
The group needs to pay interest of just over $100m in onshore and dollar bonds over the next few days. Local authorities have reportedly told banks not to expect repayment. Some Evergrande dollar bonds are trading below 30 cents on the dollar.
Developers such as Evergrande rely on specialist lenders and trust companies. They will be the first to feel the impact of missed payments, which may then be transmitted to banks. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China and China Minsheng Bank are expected to have the highest exposure.