Australian finance minister: World held “hostage” by Iran-US truce

The world remains “hostage” to the fragile truce between Iran and the United States, Australian Finance Minister Jim Chalmers said, warning that the high cost of war continues to weigh on consumers.

Chalmers stressed the need for the ceasefire to be fully upheld and for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open, Caliber.Az reports, citing CNN.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about both of those things, and clearly the economic recovery can’t begin until the war properly ends,” he said.

Chalmers noted that Australia’s economy and population rely heavily on oil and diesel supplies from neighbouring Asian countries.

In light of this, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is scheduled to travel to Singapore on April 10 for talks with his counterpart, Lawrence Wong, to strengthen fuel supply agreements.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov