Southeast Asia shuts offices, limits travel as oil crisis deepens
Al Jazeera
Countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam heavily depend on fuel imports and have limited energy reserves.
Taipei, Taiwan – Governments and businesses across Southeast Asia are scrambling to stave off energy shortages as the Strait of Hormuz remains shut to maritime traffic, amid the fallout of the United States-Israeli war on Iran.
Thousands of kilometres away from the Gulf, government offices in the Philippines have moved to a four-day work week, officials in Thailand and Vietnam have been encouraged to work from home and limit travel, and Myanmar’s government has imposed alternating driving days.
Governments are also intervening directly in the market in an effort to stabilise fuel prices.
Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced a temporary price cap on diesel, while Vietnam said it had started tapping into its fuel price stabilisation fund, according to state media.
The measures are just a preview of what is to come in the region if the Strait remains closed, according to Priyanka Kishore, director and principal economist at Asia Decoded in Singapore.
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