Uzbekistan's utility hike predicament

When the government last mooted putting up prices for gas and electricity, it went out of its way to keep the public in the loop. This time, the hike is being delivered as a fait accompli.

Electricity and gas tariffs for households in Uzbekistan are set to increase starting from May 1. This is the first price adjustment of its kind since August 2019. In this guest post, Tashkent-based economic affairs reporter Shukhrat Latipov offers some insights into why this is happening and what it means. This article is an edited version of a Russian…