Energy Subsidy Reform : Lessons and Implications.

Energy subsidies have wide-ranging economic consequences. While aimed at protecting consumers, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd-out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. Subsidies also distort resource allocation by encouraging excessiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Corporate Author: International Monetary Fund
Format: Journal
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2013.
Series:Policy Papers; Policy Paper ; No. 2013/004
Online Access:Full text available on IMF
Description
Summary:Energy subsidies have wide-ranging economic consequences. While aimed at protecting consumers, subsidies aggravate fiscal imbalances, crowd-out priority public spending, and depress private investment, including in the energy sector. Subsidies also distort resource allocation by encouraging excessive energy consumption, artificially promoting capital-intensive industries, reducing incentives for investment in renewable energy, and accelerating the depletion of natural resources. Most subsidy benefits are captured by higher-income households, reinforcing inequality. Even future generations are affected through the damaging effects of increased energy consumption on global warming. This paper provides: (i) the most comprehensive estimates of energy subsidies currently available for 176 countries; and (ii) an analysis of ?how to do energy subsidy reform, drawing on insights from 22 country case studies undertaken by IMF staff and analyses carried out by other institutions.
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Physical Description:1 online resource (68 pages)
Format:Mode of access: Internet
ISSN:2663-3493
Access:Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students