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- 15.08.2023 08:28:00
- 2 min read
Last year, a cost of about 6.7 trillion soums was directed from the country's budget for expenses related to compensating for the discrepancy in natural gas prices. This was noted in the publication “budget for Citizens”, published by the Ministry of Economy and finance.
It is reported that the sharp difference in prices for natural gas purchases was one of the reasons for the increase in economy-oriented costs.
” The increase in the cost of the economy is due to the provision of 4.5 trillion soums of unbiased financial assistance to the state support fund for agriculture and the implementation of 6.7 trillion soums in compensation for the damage caused by UzGasTrade JSC between the purchase and sale of natural gas, " the ministry said in a statement.
Natural gas and electricity tariffs in Uzbekistan have remained unchanged for residents and legal entities since 2019. Therefore, part of the budget costs goes to compensate for the difference in the price of natural gas. The cost of extracting one cubic meter of gas is 550 soums, while the price sold to the population is 380 soums.
Earlier, the former deputy finance minister Dilshod Sultanov said that in 2023, 14.5 trillion of the state debts to be raised will be spent on natural gas subsidies.
“More than $ 3 billion of foreign debt will be spent on budget support. For example, it is set to spend 14.5 trillion soums on the subsidy for the price of natural gas, which is considered one of the two largest expenses this year,” he said.
For reference, in 2023, the limited volume of new agreements signed on behalf of Uzbekistan and under the guarantee of the Republic for the attraction of foreign debt was set at US $ 4.5 billion. Of this, it is planned to direct $ 2 billion to support the state budget, and $ 2.5 billion to finance investment projects.
According to the”state budget act", 19.2 trillion soums will be used to pay the bulk of the public debt in the current year.
