Winston Peters, New Zealand’s foreign minister, said that the increase in the unemployment rate is directly caused by recent fighting in the Strait of Hormuz and the sharp rise in fuel costs—an issue that has increased the costs for businesses.

He emphasized that New Zealand must identify and tap its own oil and gas resources in this country’s deep-water basins.

Peters said that exploring and extracting these reserves will provide New Zealand with real energy security and resilience, and will prevent it from being vulnerable to geopolitical developments and international decisions and from being dependent on them.