ASHGABAT - Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has dismissed the head of the central bank and the minister responsible for communications and transport, state television said on Tuesday.
"Deputy Prime Minister Gurbannazar Ashirov and the central bank president Geldimyrat Abilov have been relieved of their duties due to serious failings in their work," the Turkmen news programme said, without providing details.
Ashirov, one of several deputy prime ministers, held the transport and communications portfolio.
Berdymukhamedov is not only the Central Asian country's president but also its prime minister and head of its parliament.
In office since the 2006 death of his reclusive predecessor Saparmurat Niyazov, the Turkmen president has cautiously moved towards greater openness, courting international interest in Turkmenistan's vast energy reserves.
al-alf/njc/ch
04/15/2008 14:28 GMT