Is natural gas free, and until when?

According to the decree, the Ministry of Treasury and Finance will cover the cost of 25 cubic meters of natural gas for residential, place of worship, and cemevi subscribers for bills issued until May 1, 2024.

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar announced that within the scope of the free natural gas application, a payment of 2 billion 470 million 636 thousand 833 TL was made from the Ministry's budget from April 24, 2023, to the end of the July period.

CHP Bolu Deputy Türker Ateş submitted a written parliamentary question regarding the effects of the free natural gas application on the budget of the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources.

Responding to the motion, Bayraktar stated the following:

“For the system usage fees within the scope of the first bill accruals from April 24, 2023, to May 31, 2023, an additional appropriation of 1 billion 812 million liras was allocated to the budget assigned to our Ministry by the 2023 Central Government Budget Law, and 1 billion 811 million 722 thousand 315.34 liras were paid from this appropriation.

A total of 6 billion 100 million liras was allocated for the ‘Expenses Related to Providing Free Natural Gas’ in the schedule attached to the Law No. 7457 on Amendments to the Schedules Attached to the 2023 Central Government Budget Law.

Payments to be made for the portion of the application extending into 2024 will be carried out from the appropriation to be allocated by the 2024 Central Government Budget Law. Furthermore, the amounts for the June and July periods regarding the system usage fees corresponding to natural gas consumption up to 25 cubic meters total 658 million 914 thousand 518.50 liras.”

Accordingly, 2.47 billion liras were paid from the Ministry's budget for free natural gas during the April-July period.

Criticizing the government's economic policy, CHP Deputy Chairman Ahmet Akın said, “According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization's Global Food Price Index, food prices worldwide have declined by 10.7 percent in the last year. In our country, according to TUIK data, food prices increased by 70.7 percent in the same period. Turkey has entered the top 5 countries in both consumer and food inflation. While a scorching cost of living is being experienced in our country due to the mistakes made by the government, saying that this stems from the world has nothing to do with reality.”

Stating that a 20 percent hike was applied to electricity and natural gas used in industry as of October 1, Akın expressed that there have been successive hikes on fuel products since the election, which has led to an increase in production costs.

Akın said, “Every hike to be made to natural gas and electricity before the approaching harsh winter will be like adding salt and pepper to the rise in inflation. These hikes will increase production costs. An increase in production costs means prices in the market, bazaar, and on the shelves will rise. It means the citizen will put less fruit and vegetables in their shopping bag.”

News Source: 12punto