A working paper from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), "The Magnitude and Distribution of Fuel Subsidies: Evidence from Bolivia, Ghana, Jordan, Mali and Sri Lanka", explores the strain that high oil prices are placing on government budgets. Many governments are reluctant to pass these price increases onto energy users, and so energy price subsidies are absorbing an increasing share of scarce public resources. The paper identifies the issues that need to be discussed when analyzing the fiscal and social costs of fuel subsidies, while also identifying the magnitude of consumer subsidies and their fiscal implications. The results of the analysis show that in all of these countries energy subsidies have significant social and fiscal costs and are badly targeted.