Besides soaring infection rates, the COVID-19 pandemic has delivered widespread lockdowns, shattering declines in output, and spiking poverty. Behind these trends, a quieter crisis in the financial sector is gathering momentum. The financial fallout from the pandemic does not respect differences by region or income status. Financial institutions around the globe are facing a marked rise in nonperforming loans. COVID-19 is also a regressive crisis, disproportionally hitting low-income households and smaller firms that have fewer assets to avert insolvency. […]