BANGKOK — The International Monetary Fund has urged governments to protect poor households through targeted support rather than blanket fuel subsidies. Rodrigo Valdés, director of the IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department, said at a briefing on the Fiscal Monitor that protecting people is not the same as protecting the price of fuel. He said fuel subsidies and measures that delay price adjustments are costing countries 1 to 1.5 per cent of GDP in 2026, and that most of the benefit goes to higher-income consumers. He was responding to a question about fuel costs in Nigeria, where some opposition candidates have promised to bring back subsidies.