Kazakhstan freezes utility rate hikes for households, food producers through year's endKazakhstan's Ministry of National Economy announced Sunday that utility rates for households and producers of staple food products will not increase for the remainder of the year.Timur Kosymbaev, chairman of the ministry's Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies, stated that all previously planned tariff hikes for 2025 have been implemented and that no new requests from natural monopoly entities have been submitted. The move is intended to lessen the impact of service costs on inflation, the ministry said.The government had previously delayed some utility price increases in July to curb inflation, after service costs became a primary driver of price growth in the first half of the year. In August, the nation's annual inflation rate reached 12.2%, up from 11.8% in July. The government aims to keep annual inflation at or below 11% for the remaining months of 2025.Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov has acknowledged the unpopularity of rate increases but stated the government remains committed to a long-term policy of moving tariffs toward market levels to enable critical investment in public utilities. (ICE ALMATY)

Fonte notizia: INTERFAX