The black market rate of Turkmenistan's national currency, the manat, hit a new low on October 23.

The weakness of the rate, which has emerged due to strict currency controls in the country, more accurately reflects Turkmenistan's economy than the official fixed exchange rate.

RFE/RL reported that Turkmenistan's black market was selling the dollar for 9 manats on October 23, compared to the 7.5 manats demanded for the greenback seen before then in the past month. The official rate of the manat has been fixed at 3.5 manats to the dollar since 2015.

The natural gas-dependent Turkmen economy has for towards three years faced troubles caused by low world hydrocarbon prices. Failed energy deals have also been a problem in recent years.

The economic troubles have hurt the country’s budget, depleting government revenues. Given the financial woe, the government is ending the era of discounted gas, water and electricity prices in Turkmenistan. Reports say the changes will force households to pay 25 times more for tap water starting from November - 5 manats ($1.43) per 10 cubic meters of water, up from 0.2 manats ($0.06).

The tightly controlled ex-Soviet country still supplies some free cooking gas and electricity to its citizens and sells anything in excess of the free subsidies at subsidised prices. The new price of tap water will also be charged in excess of free monthly allocations. The authorities plan to phase out all subsidies gradually.