Asia, which imports 60% of its crude oil from the Middle East, is the continent most exposed to the energy shock triggered by the Iran war. Several currencies from Asian countries running current account deficits unsurprisingly underperformed: India's rupee, Indonesia's rupiah and the Philippine peso all slumped to record lows against the dollar. Many central banks in Asia are currently facing an "FX intervention trilemma," according to Bob Savage, head of markets macro strategy at BNY. Brent is now 70% more expensive than it was a year ago, which feeds into Asian countries' inflation models. This isn't an outlandish scenario — the bank's oil analysts' base case scenario is that the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed through the end of April.

Source: The Edge Markets April 07, 2026 14:08 UTC