Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies: No New Utility Tariff Increases in Q4
The Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies under the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan announces that, in accordance with the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan to revise the growth rate of regulated tariffs, no new rate increases for regulated public utilities are planned for the fourth quarter of 2025.
Furthermore, the overall growth rate of utility tariffs will be reduced:
- Electricity & Heat Supply: Planned growth rate slowed from 35% to 20%.
- Water Supply, Wastewater & Gas Supply: Planned growth rate slowed from 50% to 30%.
Factors Enabling Tariff Slowdown
This adjustment was made possible through a combination of key financial and regulatory measures:
- Deferring a portion of previously scheduled tariff adjustments to later dates;
- Securing long-term financing mechanisms;
- Optimizing operating expenses across natural monopoly entities;
- Applying temporary compensatory tariffs;
- Executing heating cost recalculations for the past heating season.
Impact on Inflation
Initially, the growth of utility tariffs in 2025 was projected to contribute 1.32 percentage points (p.p.) to overall inflation. Thanks to these newly adopted measures, this impact will be reduced to 0.82 p.p., significantly easing inflationary pressure on the economy.
Key Objectives & Future Strategy
These measures are aimed at:
- Safeguarding the purchasing power of citizens;
- Stabilizing price expectations;
- Ensuring the sustainable performance of municipal utility infrastructure.
Going forward, future tariff increases will be executed in a balanced manner, taking into full account the social sensitivity of the population and state economic policy priorities.
Previously, under the new tariff policy aimed at modernizing engineering infrastructure, phased tariff increases were envisioned. Those measures were necessary to attract investment into network upgrades, raise wages for personnel in natural monopoly sectors, and offset rising costs for electricity, coal, and fuel.
