Making sense of the commodities rout

The latest fall in global commodity prices has hit financial markets across the whole of Latin America but the economic impact will be more dispersed. Global energy prices have seen the biggest falls since the start of the year, which will hit the region’s oil producers especially hard. The economic crisis in Venezuela will deepen and in the absence of a renewed rebound in oil prices a government debt default looks increasingly likely. Colombia and Ecuador will struggle too. But the pain in other economies in the region should be less acute.