Washington (United States) (AFP) – 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.”
Lescure spoke on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings, which bring together finance ministers, central bankers and other leaders in the US capital this week. Last month, the International Energy Agency, which includes G7 nations, released a record amount of oil from their strategic reserves to ease market turbulence. Lescure said “the general feeling was gravity” among the G7 when it came to the war. But he added of the Strait of Hormuz blockage: “We need this to open, but not at any price.”
His comments come as French President Emmanuel Macron is hosting talks on Friday with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on navigation through the Strait of Hormuz once there is a ceasefire. “I don’t want to pay $1 to go through the Strait of Hormuz,” Lescure added. “We’re not going to pay to go through the strait. We value the fact that negotiation seems to be going on, and I hope they produce a result.”
The G7 also vowed to support Ukraine ahead of next winter, following Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, launched in 2022, has become the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II. “Russia mustn’t be getting benefits from what’s happening in Iran,” Lescure said, adding that Ukraine should not be “collateral damage” either. The United States in March temporarily allowed the sale of Russian oil that was at sea, a move to soften global supply shocks from its war on Iran. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday that Washington will not extend the waiver, which has expired.
Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau added Thursday that central banks will act “without hesitation” to deal with the war’s economic impact, but stressed that officials are not in a rush. Besides France, which holds the rotating G7 presidency, the grouping comprises Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States.
© 2024 AFP
