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New prime minister named for KazakhstanOctober 1, 1999
ALMATY, Kazakhstan -- Foreign Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev has been named prime minister and has been given 10 days to form a new government, following the resignation on Friday of Nurlan Balgimbayev. Balgimbayev resigned after seeing his popularity slump this year along with the economy. The 51-year-old left office for "personal reasons," his press secretary Viktor Kiyanitsa said by telephone from the capital Astana, adding that he would return to his former position as head of the resource-rich state's oil industry. In his resignation statement, Balgimbayev said external factors had been largely to blame for the worsening economic crisis in the Central Asian state of 15 million people.
He said the government had become an "anti-crisis instrument" that succeeded in avoiding major social upheaval. "All of this demands the attraction of new blood, of people free from the crisis syndrome, who would be able to support the economic growth we are seeing," Balgimbayev said. A slump in world prices for Kazakhstan's key exports, oil and metals, as well as the financial collapse in neighbouring Russia took their toll on the economy, which contracted 2.5 percent last year and is expected to decline 1.5 percent in 1999. Currency recently devaluedBalgimbayev was forced to devalue the tenge currency in April to protect domestic industry from cheap imports in a move which saw people's wages and living standards drop overnight. An increasingly tired looking premier had been fighting one crisis after another since then. His last battle came this week when he called for a no-confidence vote in his government to force through an unpopular austerity budget for next year. Balgimbayev has made little secret of his desire to eventually get back to the oil industry, where he is likely to adopt a cautious approach towards foreign investors. Major changes unlikelyIn a country where President Nursultan Nazarbayev enjoys sweeping executive powers, including over the government and parliament, Balgimbayev's exit is unlikely to cause a marked change in Kazakhstan's political landscape. With five years as foreign minister, Tokayev has long experience of holding senior office. The 46-year-old career diplomat has helped Kazakhstan build ties with the West, particularly the United States, while at the same time moving cautiously closer to neighboring China and keeping good relations with Moscow. He has maintained a high profile in recent months, seeking to play down an embarrassing arms scandal which revealed that the former Soviet republic had sold MiG jet fighters to international pariah North Korea. Reuters contributed to this report. RELATED STORIES: Kazakh prime minister resigns, to take up oil post RELATED SITES: See related sites about Central Asia
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