Sri Lanka, March 12 -- Emerging market economies may experience increased economic and financial strain due to the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, global credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has cautioned.

Fitch, in its report, titled "Iran conflict raises new credit risks for emerging market sovereigns", highlighted that sustained disruptions to energy supplies from the Gulf could have serious consequences for countries dependent on imports.

The report also warned that remittances, exchange rates, and investor sentiment in affected emerging markets could come under pressure.

"More sustained disruption to energy flows than currently assumed in our baseline scenario could significantly damage global investor...