[13] So far, governments have often not followed the above prescriptions. They focussed mainly on a combination of untargeted measures, fossil fuel subsidies and government consumption to soothe the damages inflicted by the energy crisis. Only a small share of the temporary fiscal measures implemented to alleviate the burden of rising energy prices target low-income households (Slide 10, left-hand side).
Rather than cutting taxes for vulnerable households or providing transfers to those in need, governments have mostly resorted to broad-based tax cuts or subsidies, or to outright energy price caps. In addition, many measures support short-run fossil fuel consumption, thereby working against efforts to move away from fossil energy sources.