Energy Subsidy Reform (ESRx)

Source details

Session No.: OL 24.149
Delivery Method: Online Training
Location: Course conducted online
Date: May 1, 2024 - April 15, 2025 (50 weeks)
Deadline status: Deadline passed
Primary Language: Arabic
Course offered in: English and Arabic
Target Audience:
- All government officials are welcome to register.
- Officials in finance, economy, and planning ministries who provide advice on macroeconomic policies or implement policy will find the course particularly beneficial.
Qualifications:
- Some knowledge of economics would be helpful.
- Basic Microsoft Excel skills and access to a computer with a reliable Internet connection and a Google Chrome web browser are essential.

The course is presented jointly by the Institute for Capacity Development and the Fiscal Affairs, Middle East and Central Asia, and Asia and Pacific Departments of the IMF.
Builds on extensive cross-country analysis and hands-on experience in design of technical assistance and subsidy reform to make recommendations on how best to reduce energy subsidies.
Introduces the concept of energy subsidies, including:
- their definition and measurement
- economic, social, and environmental implications
Presents toolkits to:
- assess the distributional effects of alternative subsidy reform scenarios
- design a fuel pricing mechanism
Reviews lessons on what works best in energy subsidy reform and illustrates successes and failures in terms of particular countries.

Upon completion of the course, participants should be able to:

Explain the concept of energy subsidies and estimate pre- and post-tax subsidies.
Define corrective energy taxes and explain how to calculate them.
Describe the economic, social, and environmental impact of energy subsidies.
Explain how to design robust subsidy reform strategies.
Design policy responses to mitigate the effects of subsidy reform on inflation and on household welfare.
Use an Excel-based toolkit to assess the effects of alternative energy subsidy reform scenarios on households in different income groups.
Design effective fuel pricing mechanisms to mitigate fuel price volatility.

Emphasis on an Excel-based toolkit for distributional analysis across income groups.
Analytical focus on:
- definition and measurement of subsidies (pre- and post-tax)
- calculation of corrective energy taxes
- design of fuel pricing mechanisms to manage volatility
- policy responses to limit inflationary and welfare impacts of reform