New Delhi, July 2 -- GENEVA - The Strait of Hormuz reopened in mid-June. For the tankers that had been rerouting around it, the relief was immediate. For Yemen, Kiribati, and Lesotho, countries that had no voice in the decisions that closed it, the arithmetic runs on a different timeline.

Beyond Reopening, Lasting Impacts on Vulnerable Economies, concluded that the narrowest and most uneven portion of the recovery still lies ahead for the countries that could do the least to prevent any of it from starting.

The disruption began February 28, when the US-Israeli military operation against Iran triggered the effective closure of the waterway. Through that passage, some 33 kilometres wide at its most constrained point, roughly 20 million ba...