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For­mer fi­nance min­is­ter Colm Im­bert is urg­ing cau­tion over the re­cent surge in glob­al oil prices, trig­gered by es­ca­lat­ing ten­sions in­volv­ing the Unit­ed States and Is­rael with Iran. He warned that any short-term rev­enue gains for Trinidad and To­ba­go could be off­set by ris­ing im­port costs.

Speak­ing at an Op­po­si­tion me­dia con­fer­ence yes­ter­day, Im­bert de­scribed the cur­rent spike in oil prices as a “dou­ble-edged sword.” While high­er en­er­gy prices can boost gov­ern­ment rev­enue, they may al­so in­crease ship­ping and in­sur­ance costs, which are ul­ti­mate­ly passed on to con­sumers.

“It’s re­al­ly a dou­ble-edged sword. We don’t know how long this war will last,” he said.