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.