The International Monetary Fund is urging stronger targeted assistance to protect vulnerable households from rising fuel costs, warning that gaps in household and income data make it difficult to identify people who need support in Antigua and Barbuda and other Eastern Caribbean countries.

An October 2026 technical assistance report examining fuel pricing in Antigua and Barbuda and Grenada says efforts to limit sudden pump price changes cannot fully protect families from prolonged increases in international energy costs.

“Pricing instruments alone cannot fully insulate households from sustained increases in international fuel prices,” the report said.

The IMF argues that targeted social assistance is needed alongside fuel pricing measures, particularly because low-income households spend a larger share of their income on energy and transportation.

However, it identifies several obstacles across the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, including incomplete population and beneficiary records, limited household surveys, a lack of systematic poverty assessments and large informal sectors.

In Antigua and Barbuda, the absence of personal income tax further limits the administrative income information available to help determine which households require assistance, the report says.

Across many countries in the currency union, assistance programmes are fragmented between agencies, with poorly connected databases making it difficult to identify and reach vulnerable families quickly during economic shocks.

The IMF also says benefits are generally modest and are not systematically adjusted for inflation, weakening their ability to protect purchasing power when food and energy prices rise.

It recommends gradually improving beneficiary records, developing social registries and strengthening coordination between government agencies.

While those systems are being developed, authorities could use existing assistance programme databases and simpler eligibility criteria based on household categories or geographic areas.

The report also recommends improving benefit levels, considering inflation adjustments where feasible and expanding digital payments to help deliver support more efficiently.

Those changes would make it easier to increase assistance quickly during shocks and reduce reliance on broad fuel price interventions, according to the IMF.

The report warns that fuel price interventions often disproportionately benefit higher-income households compared with targeted assistance.

To guide decisions, it recommends a repeatable assessment alongside fuel price or tax changes to estimate how different household income groups would be affected, how much the measures would cost and whether direct assistance could provide better protection.

The IMF also calls for clearer public explanations of fuel pricing decisions, including the costs to government and the implications for different groups of consumers.

This article was originally published by Antigua News Room. Read the original article here: Protect vulnerable households when fuel prices rise, IMF urges.