Business Bhutan (Bhutan): ADB Economist Urges Bhutan to Rethink Govt’s Fuel Price Support Move. 23 April 2026.
[...] Against this backdrop, an economist from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has urged Bhutan to rethink its approach. Gabriele Ciminelli argues that policymakers should allow market-driven price signals to function more effectively, while shifting from broad subsidies to targeted support mechanisms and maintaining macroeconomic stability.
[...] “Price signals encourage conservation, fuel switching, and efficiency,” Ciminelli explains. However, when governments suppress these signals through blanket subsidies, the adjustment process is delayed. Demand remains artificially high, which can worsen supply pressures and increase the overall economic cost of the shock.
[...] Fuel price increases inevitably feed into inflation, but the nature of the current shock is largely external. According to Ciminelli, rising prices are driven by global supply constraints rather than domestic demand pressures. This distinction has important implications for monetary policy.
[...] The ADB economist cautions that no policy can fully offset an external shock of this magnitude. Instead, the focus should be on managing its impact—preserving fiscal space, protecting vulnerable groups, and allowing the economy to adapt efficiently.
The Business Standard (Bangladesh): Middle East conflict biggest risk to regional outlook: Experts. 14 April 2026.
In a detailed analysis of the region's macroeconomic landscape, ADB's Economic Research and Development Impact Department (ERDI) Director Matteo Lanzafame, along with economists Gabriele Ciminelli and John Beirne, warned that while the region is holding up, it remains highly vulnerable to external shocks.
The Globe and the Mail (Canada): Iran war threatens to cut off another key economic flow from the Gulf: remittances (by Neha Bhatt and James Griffiths). 22 March 2026.
[...] Gabriele Ciminelli, an economist at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, said that while remittances are quite stable − with workers often forgoing spending on themselves in order to send the same amount of money back home − for developing countries, “if there are less dollars coming from abroad, that means there’s less money to pay for imports.” This is particularly concerning for some economies that are already facing spiking fuel and energy costs as a result of the war in Iran. “At the same time the price is going up, they may have less foreign currency to pay,” Mr. Ciminelli said.
The Globe and the Mail (Canada): Gas field strikes threaten to worsen Asian energy woes from Iran war (by James Griffiths). 20 March 2026.
[...] Gabriele Ciminelli, an economist at the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, said, “Gas and oil are not easily substitutable in the short term.” “Coal can be used to some extent to replace gas, for the production of electricity for instance,” he said, but this also requires that the capacity be there in the first place. Restarting coal plants takes time, as does installing solar panels at scale, another potential way to substitute for gas.