## Reforming Fuel Subsidies (RFS)

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Reforming Fuel Subsidies (RFS)](https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/courses/rfs)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/courses/rfs/index.md)
- [Structured JSON version](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/courses/rfs/index.json)
- [Bundle manifest](/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/courses/rfs/bundle-manifest.json)

## Bibliographic details
- Published: July 18, 2025

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### Course overview and themes
- The course explores recent developments in subsidy spending on fuel products, their macroeconomic impact, and the environmental and social implications.
- Builds on country-specific case studies to elaborate on key elements of successful reforms, such as measures to protect low-income groups adversely affected by lower subsidies.
- Disseminates tools for measuring subsidies and assessing the distributional impact.
- Presents alternative fuel pricing mechanisms that can help smooth the transmission of international fuel price changes to domestic prices while protecting the budget.
- Participants may be asked to make presentations on their own country's experience in setting fuel prices and reforming subsidies.
- Topic: Fiscal Issues

### Target audience and qualifications
- Target audience:
  - Mid-level to senior officials at ministries of finance, other ministries, and government agencies involved in setting fuel prices or fuel subsidy policy.
- Qualifications:
  - Participants are expected to have a degree in economics or a related field.
  - Proficiency in Microsoft Excel is desirable.

### Course objectives (upon completion, participants should be able to)
- Explain the different rationales for energy subsidies and how subsidies are measured.
- Describe the drawbacks of energy subsidies.
- Identify possible barriers to the reform of fuel subsidies.
- Design an effective reform strategy drawing on lessons from the experiences of other countries.
- Use tailored tools to measure fuel subsidies and estimate the impact of a fuel subsidy reform on household welfare, in order to inform the design of mitigating measures and guide the choice of alternative fuel pricing mechanisms.

### Participant activities and tools
- Use of tailored tools to measure fuel subsidies and estimate distributional impacts.
- Analysis of country-specific case studies to extract lessons for reform strategy design.
- Potential presentations by participants on their country experiences in fuel pricing and subsidy reform.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/capacity-development/training/icdtc/courses/rfs_