The government of Turkmenistan proposes to abandon the annual increase in wages, pensions, state benefits, and scholarships. This was announced at a meeting of the People's Council chaired by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov by the honorary elder Yozmurod Otamurodov.
Addressing the Chairman of the People's Council and President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, Otamurodov praised the country's leadership's policy of "stably raising the standard of living of a happy people." In his opinion, the social and living conditions of the population are at a high level, and it is necessary to stop increasing payments. Otamurodov emphasized that "such benefits created for people are not available in any country in the world."
According to the OTS, Otamurodov sincerely asked Berdimuhamedov to support his proposal and direct the saved funds to the development of the country and other important tasks. Berdimuhamedov, in turn, thanked Otamurodov for his speech and recommendations.
According to Turkmen news, the elder's proposal sparked heated discussions on Turkmen social media. The state publication Turkmenportal even closed the comments under this news. Users noted that inflation is much higher than the usually indexed 10 percent. For example, meat has doubled in price in half a year - up to 100 manat ($5). Student uniforms will cost families approximately 12,000 manat ($600), and parents will need to take out a loan to pay for their child's education. Many commentators doubted the elder's sincerity, complaining about low income and hardships in making a living.
The minimum pension in Turkmenistan is currently 550 manat (approximately $27.5), the benefit - 520 manat ($26).
Officials have not yet commented on the initiative to abolish payment indexation. However, in 2015, a member of the People's Council stated that the people "live so well in an era of power and happiness that they can easily pay for gas, water, and electricity," which ultimately led to the complete abolition of benefits for these services.
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