The global energy supply disruption caused by the war in the Middle East has heightened Asia’s concerns about energy diversification, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official has said.
“I think the shock has brought to the fore concerns about energy security,” Thomas Helbling, deputy director in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific department, told Xinhua.
According to the IMF’s latest Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and Pacific released last week, Asia’s growth is projected to moderate from five per cent in 2025 to 4.4 per cent in 2026 and 4.2 per cent in 2027.
The report noted that the region’s oil and gas use amounts to about four per cent of GDP, nearly double Europe’s share. It exceeds 10 per cent in economies such as Malaysia and Thailand, where transport and industry play larger roles. The Middle East remains the main source of oil supplies for many Asian economies, but greater energy diversification — reducing reliance on any single source by expanding the mix of energy supplies — would strengthen Asia’s long-term energy security, Helbling said. “We also say economies that are more fossil fuel-intensive are more affected,” Helbling said, adding that Asia serves as a major manufacturing hub for the world and therefore consumes a significant amount of energy in producing goods that are also exported globally.
Xinhua
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