The homebuilder, once the country’s largest, has defaulted on an international bond for the first time after failing to make payment within a grace period that expired last week, according to separate reports from Bloomberg News and the Financial Times. Country Garden has not responded to requests for comment by phone or email. Citigroup, reportedly the bond’s trustee with authority to enforce its terms, declined comment.
How did it get here? While confidence in China’s real estate sector has been shaky since the collapse of Evergrande, Country Garden reignited fears in August when its liquidity crisis burst into public view. That was when reports emerged that the company had missed interest payments on two US dollar bonds, casting attention on its overall debt problems.