Estimating the impact on poverty of Ghana’s fuel subsidy reform and a mitigating response

Governments across Africa have faced increasing challenges to maintain fuel subsidies over recent years. In Ghana, in the face of a near 12% fiscal deficit in 2012, their burgeoning cost has drawn attention to questions of fiscal sustainability as well as their overall efficiency and effectiveness. In 2013, the Ghanaian Government would have spent cost 2.4 billion GHS (approximately 1.2 billion USD) on fuel subsidies, equalling 3.2% of GDP and more than half of Ghana's allocation to the entire education sector. Fuel subsidies....