Economics

Petrostates Hammered by Oil Price Plunge and Pandemic’s Spread

  • IMF warns of ‘severe blow’ from intertwined economic shocks
  • Currencies, bonds under pressure as oil revenues fall
People wearing protective masks wait to fill cooking gas canisters in the Petare neighborhood of Caracas on March 26.Photographer: Carlos Becerra/Bloomberg
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Kazakhstan’s long-standing leader calls it a “perfect storm.” Venezuela’s government is shutting fuel stations across the country. Chad is paying its sovereign debts using cattle.

Across the oil-rich states of Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the former Soviet Union, leaders accustomed to a steady flow of petrodollars see trouble ahead as the oil price war promises to destabilize their economies -- and perhaps their hold on power.