Price controls had to go, officials explained at the time, to stimulate investment in a sector plagued with inefficiencies. Fuel producers had little incentive to increase supply when the system meant they ended up selling it at a loss. On January 1st fuel prices became fully market-based. The cost of LPG, which many Kazakhs use instead of petrol or diesel to run their cars, soon shot up, doubling in some places from 60 tenge ($0.14) a litre at the end of last year to 120 tenge by January 2nd.
