* Lira hits record low as rates decision nears

* Russian rouble hits near 16-month low vs euro

* Fitch affirms South Africa at 'BB-', outlook stable

* Thai alliance reaffirms backing for Pita's second PM bid

July 18 (Reuters) - Emerging market stocks extended losses on Tuesday as Evergrande Group dragged property stocks in mainland China on disappointing earnings and added to concerns over the world's second-largest economy, while the Turkish lira hit a new record low.

China's blue-chip CSI300 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.3% and 2.1%, respectively, with analysts lowering China's full-year growth forecast after Monday's subdued data.

Mainland properties slid 5.5% on indebted property developer China Evergrande Group's disappointing overdue results.

"China's property situation has been a key concern for some time for the overall economy, given that the scale of this Evergrande issue and the sizes of losses... this is just an extra sort of risk to the outlook," said Matthew Ryan, head of market strategy, Ebury.

The MSCI index for emerging market stocks fell for a second session, down 0.6%, with South Korea's KOSPI slipping 0.4%.

The Turkish lira weakened more than 2% to an all-time low against the dollar over market woes that the central bank might raise interest rates this week by less than previously expected.

"Investors are eyeing around a 500-basis-point hike, which could provide some short-term support for the lira, but really, I don't see anything more than a temporary support," Ryan added.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia agreed to buy Turkish drones, one of several lucrative contracts President Tayyip Erdogan secured for Turkey's struggling economy.

The Russian rouble slipped to a near 16-month low against the euro, after losing around 1% on Monday following an attack on the Crimean Bridge.

The gauge for EM currencies, however, was up 0.2%, with the dollar languishing at a more than one-year low.

The Thai baht led gains among Asian currencies, scaling a two-month peak on hopes of a resolution of a political logjam in the country.

The South African rand firmed 0.4%.

Credit rating agency Fitch affirmed South Africa's "BB-" credit rating with a "stable" outlook, despite record scheduled power cuts and the transfer of most of struggling state utility Eskom's debt to the government.

Minutes showed Romania's central bank board unanimously decided to hold rates at 7% at its July 5 meeting. The leu was up 0.1% against the euro.

(Reporting by Ankika Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)