The economy-wide impact of cooking oil subsidy reforms and compensation to the oil palm industry

Abstract

This study analyses the impact of eliminating cooking oil subsidies on the economy using two simulations: complete subsidy removal and compensation for the oil palm industry. The study focuses on macroeconomic variables, industrial output, and employment. A Computable General Equilibrium model is used for analysis. The study found that complete subsidy removal leads to negative impacts on the macroeconomy, causing a slight decrease in economic growth. It also results in negative impacts on industrial output and employment. On the other hand, reallocating the revenue to the oil palm industry investment could mitigate these adverse effects, and further leads to an increase in economic growth. The reallocation improves the output of the oil palm industry and reduces its labour demand. The impacts on other industries' output and employment vary. Removing cooking oil subsidy can be a viable option because of its marginal impacts. It's also recommended to compensate the oil palm industry, especially independent smallholders.