A protracted closure of the key Hormuz Strait amid the confrontation between the US and Iran could lead to interest rate hikes and an economic slowdown in the European Union, Greece's central bank chief said Thursday.
Yannis Stournaras said this would be "a very adverse development." About a fifth of the world's oil and gas is shipped through the strait that has closed following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran's retaliation.
"Everything depends of the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint ... that right now determines energy prices all over the world," Stournaras told the Energy Transition Summit organized by the Financial Times and Kathimerini.
"If it remains closed I am afraid that we will continue to have prices where we are now, about $105 for Brent.
Before the war it was under $70," he added.
