French Finance Minister Roland Lescure told reporters Thursday that the Strait of Hormuz needs to reopen “but not at any price,” adding that G7 leaders stand ready to mitigate the war’s economic fallout.
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven advanced economies added in a statement released Thursday that “it is urgent to limit” the global economic cost of an enduring conflict in the Middle East.
“G7 members reaffirmed the pressing need to move toward a lasting peace,” the statement said, following the grouping’s Wednesday gathering in Washington.
The war erupted after US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran on February 28, prompting Tehran to virtually block the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation.
Energy prices have soared since, with the strait being a key waterway for oil and gas transit.
The conflict, alongside support for Ukraine and cooperation on critical minerals, were key topics discussed by the G7 finance leaders at their first in-person meeting this year.
“We need to make sure that we understand where the balance of risks is tilting in the next few weeks,” Lescure said Thursday.
“We are meeting again in a month’s time in Paris and we want to make sure that we monitor the situation, we evaluate the impact,” he added.
“If we need to act, as we did with releasing inventories a few weeks back, we will.”
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