Fuel subsidy withdrawal is timely, now revise the taxes and levies

The implementation of a fuel subsidy scheme in 2020 was rushed and not sufficiently thought through. It was also not correctly supported by any existing law, regulation or institutional framework.

Ideally, a self-funding price stabilisation fund should have been created to be funded by consumers when global prices were low, and to refund consumers when prices were high. Use of the word “subsidy” was a misnomer as the fund was meant to be funded by consumers, not by the Treasury.