China’s willingness to extend credit has transformed it into the best friend of emerging markets, a Bloomberg View reported. But there are reasons to believe the flow of easy money may suddenly dry up — just as distressed economies from Argentina and Venezuela to Turkey and Pakistan look to Beijing for a lifeline that would be less onerous than an International Monetary Fund bailout. In the last decade, China made more than $62 billion of loans to Venezuela, where hyperinflation prompted the government to devalue the bolivar by 95 percent at the weekend.

In the world’s most vital maritime chokepoint, through which much of Asian trade passes, a Chinese power company is investing in a deepwater port large enough to host an aircraft carrier, the International New York Times reported. Another state-owned Chinese company is revamping a harbor along the fiercely contested South China Sea. Nearby, a rail network mostly financed by a Chinese government bank is being built to speed Chinese goods along a new Silk Road.

The main contractor of M+, the West Kowloon Cultural District’s contemporary art museum, was fired by the government-appointed management authority on Friday owing to alleged insolvency, Hong Kong Free Press reported. In a press statement, the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) said it has terminated its contract with Hsin Chong Construction Company Limited over the troubled project. Hsin Chong was awarded the HK$5.9 billion contract for multiple buildings in September 2015 after a selective tendering process.

Turkey’s market mayhem came as no surprise to many emerging-market veterans. What investors may be underestimating, though, is the contagion risk for Brazil, according to Carmen Reinhart, the Cuban-born economist whose warning in May of perils to come proved prescient, Bloomberg News reported. "Do I think Turkey will turn into a major contagion episode? I think a key answer is what happens in Brazil," the Harvard professor said in an interview, citing high liquidity, political uncertainty and a debt-to-GDP ratio not seen in two centuries.

Global EM equities slipped into bear market territory last week, with the MSCI index dropping 20 per cent from its January peak. While plenty of attention has naturally focused on Turkey’s woes, the worry for investors is that a number of EM economies, their currencies and domestic bond markets are feeling a significant burn from a strong US dollar.

Funds run by a host of blue-chip financial houses, including Fidelity and Goldman Sachs, were among those with a significant bet on Turkish debt as the country’s currency crisis deepened after the re-election of president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Financial Times reported. Although the Turkish lira ended the week up about 5 per cent, the currency is still down 33 per cent since the start of July, while Turkish equities and bonds have fallen sharply as a diplomatic row with the US adds to investors’ longstanding concerns about the economy’s imbalances and runaway inflation.

Lenders to Bhushan Power and Steel have zeroed in on JSW Steel as the most preferred bidder to take over the near-bankrupt company, the Financial Express reported. The Sajjan Jindal-led steelmaker has offered to pay Rs 19,350 crore to lenders of Bhushan Power against their total outstanding of Rs 47,000 crore and Rs 350 crore to the operational creditors in lieu of their admitted claims of Rs 700 crore.

The Supreme Court ruled that creditors can proceed against personal guarantors of a corporate debtor even while insolvency proceedings are on, Bloomberg Quint reported. The top court said the moratorium envisaged under Section 14 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code will not apply to the personal guarantors. The provision places a moratorium on any suits or proceedings against the company during the insolvency resolution period.

As former cricket star Imran Khan prepares to take his oath as Pakistan’s new prime minister Saturday, there’s one thing he must be clear about: Pakistan may be China’s friend at the moment, but the relationship could quickly turn sour. In the next month or so, Islamabad may have to take another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund — the country’s 13th, a Bloomberg View reported. The State Bank of Pakistan now holds just over $10 billion in foreign exchange reserves, giving enough room to buy only two months’ worth of imports. But the IMF route is tedious.

Turkey’s attempts to stabilize its embattled financial markets have borne some fruit this week, sparking a relief rally in the lira, but investors are still looking for ways to hedge against any new shocks, The Wall Street Journal reported. The lira has gained around 24% against the dollar over the past three days after it hit a record low on Monday. The rally came after Qatar announced a $15 billion support package and Turkey’s banking regulator moved to limit the amount of the local currency banks can swap for foreign currencies with counterparts.