Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Tuesday
Lescure made the remarks as he arrived for the second and final day of a G7 finance ministers’ meeting in Paris, where officials from the world’s leading industrialized economies have been discussing global growth risks, debt pressures and development financing.

The French minister said participants broadly agreed that multilateral financial institutions needed to play a stronger role in assisting countries struggling with economic fragility and external shocks.

A joint communiqué outlining the outcomes of the meeting is expected later on Tuesday.

The discussions come as developing economies continue facing pressure from high borrowing costs, slowing global trade, climate-related disruptions and the lingering effects of recent geopolitical conflicts on food and energy markets.

International financial institutions, including the IMF and World Bank, have faced increasing calls from advanced economies and developing nations to accelerate lending reforms, expand crisis financing and improve debt restructuring mechanisms for low-income countries.

G7 officials have also been under pressure to demonstrate coordinated support for vulnerable economies amid concerns that widening debt burdens and fiscal instability could undermine global economic recovery.

In a joint statement issued after meetings in Paris, the G7 officials said it was “imperative” to restore normal transit through the strategic waterway, which handles a substantial share of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

The statement was released following discussions among finance chiefs from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as tensions linked to the Middle East conflict continue to disrupt international trade and energy flows.

The ministers also emphasized the need to address widening global current account imbalances and reaffirmed their commitment to multilateral coordination in responding to threats facing the world economy.

The G7 warned against arbitrary export restrictions and stressed the importance of maintaining stable and predictable energy markets at a time of heightened geopolitical uncertainty and supply chain volatility.

The Strait of Hormuz, located between Iran and Oman, remains one of the world’s most strategically significant maritime chokepoints. Any disruption to traffic through the corridor can have immediate consequences for oil prices, shipping costs and inflationary pressures across major economies.

The latest G7 statement reflects growing international concern over the economic fallout from escalating regional tensions and the broader impact on global trade, energy security and financial markets.