And, unscoring the growing economic pressure in Turkmenistan, Mr Berdymukhamedov also sacked the ministers for economic development and foreign economic relations as well as the head of the tax administration.

Mr Berdymukahmedov has now sacked six top government officials this year.

With little accurate economic data coming out of Turkmenistan, the quick succession of sackings and the musing over cutting government subsidies suggest that the Turkmen economy, which is so heavily reliant on gas sales, is listing heavily.

Government subsidies of utilities is one of its cornerstone policies. They have been in place since 1993, although Mr Berdymukhamedov floated the idea of cutting the subsidies through the Council of Elders last year. The Council of Elders is a traditional Turkmen advisory body although it has been co-opted over the past two decades to test the opinions of the president with the public.

Now, though, according to press reports, Mr Berdymukhamedov has openly discussed cutting the subsidies for the first time.

“This is no longer justifiable from an economic point of view. It is hindering our transition to a market economy and imposing an additional burden on the budget,” he said.

There is no publicly available data which shows just how much the government spends each year on subsidises for gas, electricity, salt and water for the 5.5m people who live in Turkmenistan.