Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrives for a Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) at the European Council in Brussels on Oct 19, 2018. (ARIS OIKONOMOU / AFP)

ALMATY - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev accepted the resignation of his government on Thursday, the text of a decree showed.

Nazarbayev said earlier on Thursday the government should resign after what he said was a failure to raise real incomes, boost jobs and improve living standards.    

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He said on the presidential website he will soon propose "a range of measures to strengthen social welfare and raise people's quality of life."

Nazarbayev said the focus will be on more support for the poor, improving living conditions and regional development. Poor families, he said, are seeing stagnant incomes and spending more of their earnings on food.

The announcement follows a wave of protests by Kazakh women calling for more financial support for children and safer housing after a fire in which five children died.

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