Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev has dismissed the government, citing its failure to raise living standards and diversify the economy away from the energy sector.
"In many areas of the economy, despite the adoption of many laws and government decisions, positive changes have not been achieved," Nazarbaev said in a statement on the presidential website on February 21.
The long-ruling president cited the government's failure to raise real incomes for Kazakhs, to boost employment opportunities, or to improve living standards in a country that enjoys vast energy resources.
He also said small and medium-sized businesses had not become a driving force for the Central Asian country's economic growth, as had been hoped.
The move comes amid growing protests across the country about living conditions for Kazakhs that were sparked by the deaths of five children of a single family when their home in Astana burned down.
The tragedy occurred while both parents were working overnight shifts to make ends meet.
The decision to dismiss the government marks the end of 55-year-old Bakytzhan Sagintaev's premiership, which started in 2016.
An order on the presidential website said Deputy Prime Minister Askar Mamin, 53, had been appointed as acting prime minister until a new government can be formed.
Ahead of Nazarbaev's address, Mamin called in a statement for a "more aggressive and proactive" policy to help the country boost its exports.
Nazarbaev said he would propose "a number of measures to strengthen social welfare and people's quality of life" at a conference of his Nur Otan party on February 27, adding that "considerable funds" would be allocated to pay for the measures.
The 78-year-old president has been in power in energy-rich Kazakhstan since before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Rights activists and critics say he has suppressed dissent, prolonged his time in office through undemocratic votes, and used the levers of power to neutralize potential political opponents.
