The World Bank has established a facility to support countries in reforming their energy subsidies while ensuring social protection of the poor.
The US$20 million ‘Energy Subsidy Reform Technical Assistance and Delivery Facility' was announced on 22 October, and will support activities that help countries implement reforms that are successful and sustainable.
25 November 2014: The World Bank has established a facility to support countries in reforming their energy subsidies while ensuring social protection of the poor. The US$20 million ‘Energy Subsidy Reform Technical Assistance and Delivery Facility’ will support activities that help countries implement reforms that are successful and sustainable.
The Facility is led by the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). Since 2013, the Facility has conducted work at the country level in the Middle East, East and Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The initiative aims to provide assistance to 15 countries over a period of three to five years.
Activities supported by the Facility include: subsidy and reform impact assessments; support for consensus building, including through policy dialogue and communications; design of subsidy reform approaches and delivery mechanisms, transition plans, and social protection measures; and implementation support. The Facility also supports knowledge exchange, encouraging learning among peers from experiences in reform approaches and implementation of social protection measures, among others.
Activities already undertaken by the Facility include an assessment of the impact of energy deprivation on households in Tajikistan, which included studies on the conditions for electricity tariff increase acceptability among consumers and appropriate pro-poor measures. In Viet Nam, the Facility has supported an assessment on the impact of low-carbon development on electricity costs and related price change needs with an eye on avoiding subsidies.
ESMAP announced the facility at a knowledge exchange conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 22 October 2014. The event discussed what has and has not worked in countries attempts to remove harmful energy subsidies.
ESMAP is a knowledge and technical assistance programme administered by the World Bank and operating globally, which provides analytical and advisory services to low- and middle income countries for knowledge and institutional capacity building. [World Bank Press Release] [Energy Subsidy Reform and Delivery Technical Assistance Facility Webpage] [Subsidy Reform Assistance Facility Fact Sheet]