France to host G7 finance meeting on Mideast

France will host a video meeting of G7 finance ministers on the Middle East crisis on Monday, as the war fuels fears for the global economy.

The French finance ministry said in a statement the meeting would “review the situation in the Gulf from an economic point of view” and “events of recent days”.

French finance minister Roland Lescure earlier told Franceinfo radio he had agreed with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other G7 finance ministers to hold the meeting over a week after the start of the US-Israel war against Iran.

The idea, he said, was “to see how the conflict develops, how the markets evolve”. Finance ministers and the central bank governors of the member countries would attend, he added.

France holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven advanced economies, which also includes Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.

A first meeting of finance ministers under the French presidency was held on January…