UK talking to partners, central bank over economic fallout from Iran, says PM

LONDON, March 9 - The British government is talking to international partners, and its central bank, to assess ways to limit the economic damage from the escalating Iranian crisis, warning that the longer it goes on, the worse it could get. Read more at straitstimes.com.

LONDON, March 9 - The British government is talking to international partners, and its central bank, to assess ways to limit the economic damage from the escalating Iranian crisis, warning that the longer it goes on, the worse it could get.

British borrowing costs have soared since the conflict erupted more than a week ago - by more than those of other European countries and the United States - as investors fear that surging oil and gas prices will stoke already stubborn inflation higher.

That also risks forcing the government to intervene again to cushion the economic blow, a potential huge challenge to an already unpopular government which has limited room to increase spending.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer told an event in London on Monday that he wanted people to know that the government was working to deal with the fallout from the Iranian war.

"What we're doing is monitoring the risk, working with others to mitigate the risk," he said.

"The chancellor is talking with the Bank of England every day to make sure that we're ahead of that, on energy prices for households."