Why Turkey's crisis feels familiar for emerging markets: It's the debt

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For nearly 10 years now, the flood of cash from global central banks has financed shopping malls in Istanbul, booming cities in China and 100-year bonds in Argentina. Today, many of the malls are empty, property developers in China are riddled with debt, and Argentina has just submitted to a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Now, the borrowing binge that fuelled rapid growth in emerging markets and piled up returns for their investors is looking like a problem.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 17, 2018, with the headline Why Turkey's crisis feels familiar for emerging markets: It's the debt. Subscribe