Energy subsidies have been a central public policy tool in Latin America and the Caribbean for ensuring access to energy, protecting the most vulnerable groups from price volatility, and contributing to economic and social stability. However, growing fiscal constraints, the sector’s investment needs, and the transition toward more sustainable systems raise a fundamental question: how can affordable energy be guaranteed without compromising fiscal sustainability or future investment capacity?
Although subsidies have helped mitigate social and economic impacts, they also create challenges related to cost, targeting, and efficiency. Their fiscal effects do not always appear directly in public budgets; they may instead emerge through tariff arrears, liabilities of state-owned enterprises, stabilization funds, guarantees, or deferred financial commitments.
At the same time, the region needs to mobilize resources to expand infrastructure, modernize grids, integrate renewable energy, and strengthen resilience and energy security. The panel will bring together authorities, international organizations, regulators, and specialists to examine the evolution of subsidies, their fiscal implications, and reform experiences across the region. The discussion will seek to identify support schemes that are more efficient, transparent, targeted, and compatible with social protection and the energy transition.
