G7 finance ministers and central bank governors gathered in Paris on Monday May 18 to address the economic fallout of the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, with the conflict now in its twelfth week and global energy supply disruptions continuing to drive inflation and bond-market volatility across G7 economies.
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure is hosting the gathering, which is preparing the ground for the G7 leaders summit scheduled for June 15-17 in the French spa town of Evian. Economy ministers from the UAE, Syria, Qatar, and Ukraine were also invited as guests, what the French presidency of the G7 described as an expression of "dialogue and solidarity" with states directly exposed to ongoing crises.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is urging counterparts to align on stricter sanctions enforcement against Tehran to prevent the funding of Iran's "war machine." Bessent also noted that last week's U.S. trip to China, led by President Trump, had been "very successful" — referring to the May 14 Trump-Xi summit at which both sides agreed Hormuz must remain open and Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil declared the G7 "the right framework" for talking to the United States about ending the Iran war. "This war is massively damaging economic development," Klingbeil said in a statement. "That is why everything must be done to bring the war to a permanent end, to stabilise the region again, and to ensure free shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz."
Eurogroup President Kyriakos Pierakakis is attending as Greece's Finance Minister, having said publicly ahead of the meeting that "opening the Strait of Hormuz and bringing the conflict to a lasting end are of the utmost importance." ECB President Christine Lagarde is also present, alongside Bank of France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau. British Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to urge coordinated action on inflation, supply chains, and restoring safe Hormuz navigation.
France is pitching a "common toolbox" to combat market disruptions to key raw materials, Lescure said — encompassing strategic trade deals or interventionist measures such as price floors, quotas, or tariffs. Paris is also promoting "multilateral projects" among countries to develop their own extraction and refining capabilities, including a French-Japanese factory under construction in southwest France to produce and recycle rare earths and magnets.
European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said the meeting would also discuss the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran and would reaffirm the need to reopen Hormuz as soon as possible. Last month, G7 nations released 400 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves following a phone call between G7 leaders — a move that tempered the rise in prices but only temporarily.
Bond markets are pricing the spillover. The U.S. 30-year Treasury yield jumped to 5.121% Friday, the highest since May 2025. U.K. 30-year gilt yields are at their highest since the late 1990s. Japan, particularly sensitive as a major energy importer, has seen bond yields rise drastically. The final G7 press conference is scheduled for midday Tuesday.
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