As governments struggle to recover from reduced revenue and increased costs caused by the coronavirus pandemic, they will be looking to eliminate non-essential expenditures. Energy subsidies that suck billions of dollars each year from the public purse should be a leading candidate for cancellation.
According to Tim Gould, head of energy supply and investment at the International Energy Agency, the current collapse of energy prices presents a “golden opportunity” to cut subsidies. As explained in the New York Times on June 11, “Lower prices make it easier to cut [energy] subsidies without inflicting much pain on the poor, especially in oil-exporting countries with reduced revenues.”