Kazakh Prime Minister Likens Economic Crisis To War

Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov

ASTANA -- Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov has likened the economic crisis being faced by his country to wartime and promised to use wartime regulations, if needed, when dealing with the nation's economy, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

Talking to cabinet members in Astana, Masimov said his government would be ruling the economy "manually" until the end of this year.

Kazakhstan's national currency, the tenge, has lost more than 20 percent of its value in the past month.