From a Health Crisis to Financial Crisis: The Role of Australia’s Financial Support in Preventing Deep Crises in Asia

What started as a health crisis has quickly become a financial crisis. COVID-19 has unleashed a surge of financial crises across the developing world. Ecuador and Zambia have been the first to default and Argentina has postponed negotiations with creditors (Wallace 2020). Turkey, Lebanon and Rwanda look increasingly vulnerable and the International Institute of Finance warns South Africa is next (IIF 2020). More than 100 countries have approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help since January 2020 (IMF 2020). If collapses in exchange rates are an indication of who might follow, Brazil, Russia and Mexico are at the top of the list.