ISTANBUL (REUTERS) – Turkey sharply raised electricity prices by 50-100 per cent for households and companies on Saturday (Jan 1), and again increased monthly natural gas bills, adding to strains in an economy facing soaring overall inflation.
The Energy Market Regulatory Authority said electricity prices were raised around 50 per cent for lower-demand households for 2022, while they were increased by more than 100 per cent for high-demand commercial users.
Natural gas prices jumped 25 per cent for residential use and 50 per cent for industrial use in January, national distributor BOTAS said separately.
The price rise was 15 per cent for electricity-generating industrial use.
Turkey’s annual inflation jumped above 21 per cent in November and is seen surpassing 30 per cent in December, after a currency crash in recent months brought on by a series of unorthodox interest rate cuts.
