The International Monetary Fund IMF has urged the Federal Government to resist calls to reinstate a blanket petrol subsidy, recommending targeted assistance for vulnerable households to ease the burden of rising energy costs. The Fund warned that broad fuel subsidies are costly, disproportionately benefit higher-income consumers and increase fiscal pressure, particularly as borrowing costs continue to rise. The Director of the IMF’s Fiscal Affairs Department, Rodrigo Valdés, made the recommendation during a press briefing on the Fiscal Monitor at the 2026 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bangkok. Valdés was responding to a question about the implications of allowing energy prices to reflect scarcity, given concerns that higher petrol prices in Nigeria could increase transportation costs, fuel inflation and worsen poverty. The question also referenced growing calls for the government to restore the petrol subsidy ahead of an election year. He explained that fuel subsidies and other measures designed to prevent domestic prices from adjusting fully to energy shocks had cost countries between one and 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product in 2026. Rather than subsidising fuel prices across the board, Valdés advised governments to strengthen social safety nets and use household data to identify and support those most in need.