The global economic crisis triggered by the spread of COVID-19 has sent many of the world’s developing countries into an economic death spiral. At the first signs of panic in early March, investors fled to the ‘safety’ of deeper financial markets and the US dollar in particular. Capital flight, rising spreads, falling export revenues and collapsing exchange rates compounded an already precarious debt position in many countries, tipping a number into default and leaving many more in a high state of stress.