Chinese real estate behemoth Evergrande Group is inching closer towards default, leaving investors worried. The company, which was to make a coupon payment to a few investors by Thursday, missed the deadline. What is worse is that it has not made any announcement regarding its future payment plans.

Quoting unnamed investors, Nikkei Asia said that the deadline of midnight New York time had passed without any notice from Evergrande. However, the company has a 30-day grace period to send the funds before it is officially in default.

Also read: Will the crisis in real estate giant Evergrande trigger China’s Lehman Brothers moment?

The news organization noted that Thursday coupon payment deadlines were the first for Evergrande “since the company warned earlier this month that it might default on its debts if it fails to attract new investors or sell assets.”

A Reuters report said that Chinese authorities are asking local governments to prepare for the potential downfall of debt-ridden China Evergrande Group, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing officials familiar with the discussions. According to reports, the authorities have asked local governments to come into a rescue mode only at the last minute.

While the Evergrande debt crisis has led to many comparing the current situation with the Lehman Brothers crash, analysts said that a lot would depend on how the government’ deals with this problem.

The possible Evergrande default has already triggered a massive real estate crisis in China.