Global crisis already in April? Former Minister of Economy warns

If the war in the Middle East is not ended by the first week of April, the world economy will face a serious crisis, former Economy Minister Antonio Costa Silva said on Friday in an interview with Portugal's public radio Antena 1.

In recent years, Antonio Costa, who has been considered a close advisor to the current head of the European Council in the field of economy, maritime policy and fuel trade, warned that “the world is on the threshold of a massive economic crisis.”

In an interview with the radio station, he explained that “the world economy will last three weeks at most” further blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and paralysis of oil production in the Middle East.

– Portugal, which has been plagued by successive crises for several years now, may be hit particularly hard, added Costa Silva, who previously headed the Partex fuel company.

The Portuguese expert, who headed the Ministry of Economy and Maritime Policy in the government of Prime Minister Antonio Costa in 2022-2024, warned that the global crisis would first affect, among others, component manufacturing sector and then weakened other industries.

– If the conflict (in the Middle East – PAP) does not end within two, maximum three weeks, the world will be in serious trouble – warned Costa Silva.

The conflict in the Middle East began on February 28 with a US-Israeli attack on Iran, which responded with military force. In the following days, the situation escalated due to further attacks on Iran, as well as attacks by the regime in Tehran on Israel and countries in the region where US military bases are located or in close relations with Washington.

From Lisbon Marcin Zatyka (PAP)

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