Emerging economies are in more debt than ever.<br />The Korea Center for International Finance said Tuesday that emerging countries debt as of the first quarter of this year has reached 8-point-5 trillion U.S. dollars.<br /> That's more than double the 3-point-9 trillion dollars they owed in 2008 during the global financial crisis.<br />Debt in foreign currencies account for 76 percent of the amount.<br />According to the research center, Turkey had the highest debt relative to GDP at 70 percent, Hungary came next with 64 percent and Argentina with 53 percent.<br />Rising interest rates in the United States have triggered capital flight from some of these countries and destabilized exchange rates, which will make it harder to repay the loans. <br />
