Finance Minister says the reduction in subsidies will not lead to an increase in prices at the pump.

“It should also be noted that the dynamics of the reduction of subsidies on fuel prices at the pump will be strengthened, with subsidies falling from 263 billion FCFA in 2024 to 15 billion FCFA in 2025.” This is stated in the explanatory letter signed by the minister of Finance, Louis Paul Motaze regarding the 2025 Finance Bill, which the government submitted for consideration on 1 December.

Specifically, the government plans to reduce the consumer subsidy for petroleum products to just 15 billion CFAF in 2025, a reduction of almost 250 billion CFAF compared to 2024. This would reduce the subsidy by more than 90 per cent.

While the analyses assume an increase in fuel prices in 2025, Louis Paul Motaze, Minister of Finance, says this is not the case. “I think a lot of people have seen that the support, in other words the subsidy for petroleum products, is going down and they have concluded that if it is going down, it is because we are going to increase the price of fuel at the pump. But that is not true! The subsidy is falling because the price on the international market is falling. And that’s why when the international price goes down, it goes down with the price at the pump here… we don’t want to affect people’s purchasing power, so we’re not increasing the price at the pump…”, Finance minister explained.