SINGAPORE: Amid a war in the Middle East that has strained global markets, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam warned of a “long storm” of instability as he approved the government’s spending plans for the coming financial year.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Mar 18), Mr Tharman highlighted the “major new stress point in the global economy” as the Strait of Hormuz remained closed in the third week of the conflict.
“Yet these economic problems are not the gravest challenge we face. We are looking at a long storm of global political instability.”
“For every week that the war continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, the higher fuel prices will go and the longer they stay high,” he said, adding that the war will also disrupt supplies of fertiliser and other critical commodities such as aluminium and helium, with knock-on effects on food supply and prices.
However, Mr Tharman pointed to the strategic buffers that Singapore has in place to navigate these turbulent times.
