The Asia Pacific Regulatory Centre (APRC) is urging Fiji and other Pacific Island nations to brace for sustained economic pressure as escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East send shockwaves through global oil markets.
The organisation said international crude benchmarks had risen sharply following renewed military escalation involving major global powers and Iranian assets, heightening concerns over possible disruption to the Strait of Hormuz — a corridor that carries about 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil supply.
APRC senior advisor Joel Abraham said the region must respond with strategic foresight.
“What we are witnessing is not merely a fuel price adjustment,” he said.
“It is a systemic economic development with the potential to affect transport, electricity generation, food pricing, construction materials, aviation and the broader cost of living across the Pacific.”
He warned that Pacific economies remain structurally vulnerable because of their reliance on imported fuel and goods.
“Small island economies do not set international energy prices, we inherit them.”
APRC has begun a regional impact analysis, cautioning that policymakers must anticipate ripple effects and embed long-term resilience into economic planning.
