Business Maverick: From Fear in Wuhan to Oil Crash: Six Months in Emerging Markets

The collapse of anbetween the OPEC cartel and Russia that had underpinned oil markets for three years led to a historic crash of crude prices to below zero in March. The slump exacerbated economic stresses in countries such as Russia and Indonesia that were already weak from the coronavirus fallout. An agreement to reduce production was reached in April and producers extended it in June. Even with the deal, the Russian ruble slumped more than 10% in the first half.

Latin America became the fastest-growing region in terms of virus cases in the second quarter, deepening humanitarian and economic challenges facing the region. Brazil surpassed 1.3 million infections to trail only the U.S. in total numbers. Peru and Chile, after being initially lauded for taking preventative action, also came to rank among the worst-affected nations.

Government spending to fight the pandemic pushed a number of emerging-market nations to the brink of default. Those with high foreign-currency debt were hit the hardest, with

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