The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya

Shortly before the 2011 Libyan revolution, consumers' subsidies were rapidly increased by the regime in an effort to reduce social discontent. In the aftermath of the revolution, these subsidies became important for people's subsistence,...

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Main Authors: Araar, Abdelkrim, Choueiri, Nada, Verme, Paolo
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:
GAS
OIL
TEA
GDP
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/03/24220571/quest-subsidy-reforms-libya
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21673
id okr-10986-21673
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-216732021-04-23T14:04:04Z The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya Araar, Abdelkrim Choueiri, Nada Verme, Paolo GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES SUBSTITUTION PRODUCTION PRICE LEVELS PRICE INCREASES SUBSTITUTE GOODS STOCK BREAD INCOME COST OF GASOLINE ACTIVITIES ENERGY EXPENDITURE GENERATION REAL GDP ELASTICITY GAS PRICES GASOLINE CONSUMPTION POLITICAL ECONOMY GASOLINE ENERGY PRODUCTS WELFARE INCENTIVES PASTA TOMATOES ENERGY SUBSIDIES GAS SUBSIDY PRICE REAL INCOME WEALTH INFLATION SUBSIDY REDUCTION ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION GASOLINE SUBSIDIES RETAIL SAFETY NETS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CENTRAL BANK DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY OILS OIL PRICES PETROLEUM SAVINGS COSTS OIL BRANDS DATES RENT SURPLUS PRODUCTS BASE YEAR OPTIONS WATER QUOTAS DEMAND CURVES MARKETS DIRECT VALUE INCOME LEVELS PRODUCT INVENTORIES NATURAL RESOURCES GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT FOOD PRODUCTS FUELS SUBSIDIES FOOD PRODUCTION MARKET PRICE PRICE CHANGE EXPENDITURE MARKET ECONOMY ENERGY CONSUMPTION CONSUMPTION SUBSTITUTE TEA WAGES BALANCE COUPONS OIL PRODUCER PRICE ADJUSTMENTS MARKET PRICES VALUE ELECTRICITY FREE MARKET ANIMAL FEED DEMAND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT PRICE REGULATION ELECTRICITY GENERATION PRICE CHANGES EXPENDITURES ECONOMY CONSUMERS DEMAND CURVE PETROLEUM GAS ENERGY SUBSIDY CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY MARKET RETAIL PRICES FOOD ENERGY PRICES PRICE INCREASE MARKET VALUE HYDROCARBONS ELECTRICITY PRICES FOOD SUBSIDIES TRADE GDP GOODS INTERNATIONAL MARKET SUPERMARKETS PRODUCTS’ MARKET CRUDE OIL FUEL OIL RESERVES GINI COEFFICIENT AVAILABILITY WHEAT RICE CONSUMER PRICES TARGETED SUBSIDIES VEGETABLE OILS PRICE LIBERALIZATION PETROLEUM PRODUCTS FOOD PRICES EVAPORATED MILK ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION CASH SUBSIDIES DIESEL KEROSENE FLOUR FOOD SUBSIDY PRICE SUBSIDY PRICES APPROACH ENERGY PRICE PRODUCTION COSTS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT POLICY INCOME GROUPS SUGAR Shortly before the 2011 Libyan revolution, consumers' subsidies were rapidly increased by the regime in an effort to reduce social discontent. In the aftermath of the revolution, these subsidies became important for people's subsistence, but also a very heavy burden for the state budget. Since then, the Libyan government has been confronted with the necessity of reforming subsidies in a politically and socially complex environment. This paper uses household survey data to provide a distributional analysis of food and energy subsidies and simulate the impact of subsidy reforms on household wellbeing, poverty, and the government's budget. Despite the focus on direct effects only, the results indicate that subsidy reforms would have a major impact on household welfare and government revenues. The elimination of food subsidies would reduce household expenditure by about 10 percent and double the poverty rate while saving the equivalent of about 2 percent of the government budget. The elimination of energy subsidies would have a similar effect on household welfare, but a larger effect on poverty while government savings would be almost 4 percent of the budget. The size of these effects, the weakness of market institutions, and the current political instability make subsidy reforms extremely complex in Libya. It is also clear that subsidy reforms will call for some form of compensation for the poor, a gradual rather than a big bang approach, and a product-by-product sequence of reforms rather than an all-inclusive reform. 2015-04-02T18:34:15Z 2015-04-02T18:34:15Z 2015-03 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/03/24220571/quest-subsidy-reforms-libya http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21673 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7225 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank Group, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa Libya
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES
SUBSTITUTION
PRODUCTION
PRICE LEVELS
PRICE INCREASES
SUBSTITUTE GOODS
STOCK
BREAD
INCOME
COST OF GASOLINE
ACTIVITIES
ENERGY EXPENDITURE
GENERATION
REAL GDP
ELASTICITY
GAS PRICES
GASOLINE CONSUMPTION
POLITICAL ECONOMY
GASOLINE
ENERGY PRODUCTS
WELFARE
INCENTIVES
PASTA
TOMATOES
ENERGY SUBSIDIES
GAS
SUBSIDY
PRICE
REAL INCOME
WEALTH
INFLATION
SUBSIDY REDUCTION
ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION
GASOLINE SUBSIDIES
RETAIL
SAFETY NETS
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
CENTRAL BANK
DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY
OILS
OIL PRICES
PETROLEUM
SAVINGS
COSTS
OIL
BRANDS
DATES
RENT
SURPLUS
PRODUCTS
BASE YEAR
OPTIONS
WATER
QUOTAS
DEMAND CURVES
MARKETS
DIRECT VALUE
INCOME LEVELS
PRODUCT
INVENTORIES
NATURAL RESOURCES
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
FOOD PRODUCTS
FUELS
SUBSIDIES
FOOD PRODUCTION
MARKET PRICE
PRICE CHANGE
EXPENDITURE
MARKET ECONOMY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
CONSUMPTION
SUBSTITUTE
TEA
WAGES
BALANCE
COUPONS
OIL PRODUCER
PRICE ADJUSTMENTS
MARKET PRICES
VALUE
ELECTRICITY
FREE MARKET
ANIMAL FEED
DEMAND
LOGISTICAL SUPPORT
PRICE REGULATION
ELECTRICITY GENERATION
PRICE CHANGES
EXPENDITURES
ECONOMY
CONSUMERS
DEMAND CURVE
PETROLEUM GAS
ENERGY SUBSIDY
CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY
MARKET
RETAIL PRICES
FOOD
ENERGY PRICES
PRICE INCREASE
MARKET VALUE
HYDROCARBONS
ELECTRICITY PRICES
FOOD SUBSIDIES
TRADE
GDP
GOODS
INTERNATIONAL MARKET
SUPERMARKETS
PRODUCTS’ MARKET
CRUDE OIL
FUEL
OIL RESERVES
GINI COEFFICIENT
AVAILABILITY
WHEAT
RICE
CONSUMER PRICES
TARGETED SUBSIDIES
VEGETABLE OILS
PRICE LIBERALIZATION
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
FOOD PRICES
EVAPORATED MILK
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
CASH SUBSIDIES
DIESEL
KEROSENE
FLOUR
FOOD SUBSIDY
PRICE SUBSIDY
PRICES
APPROACH
ENERGY PRICE
PRODUCTION COSTS
ENERGY
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
INCOME GROUPS
SUGAR
spellingShingle GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURES
SUBSTITUTION
PRODUCTION
PRICE LEVELS
PRICE INCREASES
SUBSTITUTE GOODS
STOCK
BREAD
INCOME
COST OF GASOLINE
ACTIVITIES
ENERGY EXPENDITURE
GENERATION
REAL GDP
ELASTICITY
GAS PRICES
GASOLINE CONSUMPTION
POLITICAL ECONOMY
GASOLINE
ENERGY PRODUCTS
WELFARE
INCENTIVES
PASTA
TOMATOES
ENERGY SUBSIDIES
GAS
SUBSIDY
PRICE
REAL INCOME
WEALTH
INFLATION
SUBSIDY REDUCTION
ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION
GASOLINE SUBSIDIES
RETAIL
SAFETY NETS
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
CENTRAL BANK
DISTRIBUTION OF ENERGY
OILS
OIL PRICES
PETROLEUM
SAVINGS
COSTS
OIL
BRANDS
DATES
RENT
SURPLUS
PRODUCTS
BASE YEAR
OPTIONS
WATER
QUOTAS
DEMAND CURVES
MARKETS
DIRECT VALUE
INCOME LEVELS
PRODUCT
INVENTORIES
NATURAL RESOURCES
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
FOOD PRODUCTS
FUELS
SUBSIDIES
FOOD PRODUCTION
MARKET PRICE
PRICE CHANGE
EXPENDITURE
MARKET ECONOMY
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
CONSUMPTION
SUBSTITUTE
TEA
WAGES
BALANCE
COUPONS
OIL PRODUCER
PRICE ADJUSTMENTS
MARKET PRICES
VALUE
ELECTRICITY
FREE MARKET
ANIMAL FEED
DEMAND
LOGISTICAL SUPPORT
PRICE REGULATION
ELECTRICITY GENERATION
PRICE CHANGES
EXPENDITURES
ECONOMY
CONSUMERS
DEMAND CURVE
PETROLEUM GAS
ENERGY SUBSIDY
CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY
MARKET
RETAIL PRICES
FOOD
ENERGY PRICES
PRICE INCREASE
MARKET VALUE
HYDROCARBONS
ELECTRICITY PRICES
FOOD SUBSIDIES
TRADE
GDP
GOODS
INTERNATIONAL MARKET
SUPERMARKETS
PRODUCTS’ MARKET
CRUDE OIL
FUEL
OIL RESERVES
GINI COEFFICIENT
AVAILABILITY
WHEAT
RICE
CONSUMER PRICES
TARGETED SUBSIDIES
VEGETABLE OILS
PRICE LIBERALIZATION
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
FOOD PRICES
EVAPORATED MILK
ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION
CASH SUBSIDIES
DIESEL
KEROSENE
FLOUR
FOOD SUBSIDY
PRICE SUBSIDY
PRICES
APPROACH
ENERGY PRICE
PRODUCTION COSTS
ENERGY
DEVELOPMENT POLICY
INCOME GROUPS
SUGAR
Araar, Abdelkrim
Choueiri, Nada
Verme, Paolo
The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
geographic_facet Middle East and North Africa
Libya
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7225
description Shortly before the 2011 Libyan revolution, consumers' subsidies were rapidly increased by the regime in an effort to reduce social discontent. In the aftermath of the revolution, these subsidies became important for people's subsistence, but also a very heavy burden for the state budget. Since then, the Libyan government has been confronted with the necessity of reforming subsidies in a politically and socially complex environment. This paper uses household survey data to provide a distributional analysis of food and energy subsidies and simulate the impact of subsidy reforms on household wellbeing, poverty, and the government's budget. Despite the focus on direct effects only, the results indicate that subsidy reforms would have a major impact on household welfare and government revenues. The elimination of food subsidies would reduce household expenditure by about 10 percent and double the poverty rate while saving the equivalent of about 2 percent of the government budget. The elimination of energy subsidies would have a similar effect on household welfare, but a larger effect on poverty while government savings would be almost 4 percent of the budget. The size of these effects, the weakness of market institutions, and the current political instability make subsidy reforms extremely complex in Libya. It is also clear that subsidy reforms will call for some form of compensation for the poor, a gradual rather than a big bang approach, and a product-by-product sequence of reforms rather than an all-inclusive reform.
format Working Paper
author Araar, Abdelkrim
Choueiri, Nada
Verme, Paolo
author_facet Araar, Abdelkrim
Choueiri, Nada
Verme, Paolo
author_sort Araar, Abdelkrim
title The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
title_short The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
title_full The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
title_fullStr The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
title_full_unstemmed The Quest for Subsidy Reforms in Libya
title_sort quest for subsidy reforms in libya
publisher World Bank Group, Washington, DC
publishDate 2015
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/03/24220571/quest-subsidy-reforms-libya
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21673
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