Kazakh president says farmland won't be sold to foreigners

ALMATY (Reuters) - Kazakhstan will permanently ban sales of agricultural land to foreigners, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Friday, ending a long-running discussion about controversial land reform plans.

Provisions that would have allowed foreign ownership of farmland prompted public protests throughout Kazakhstan in 2016. The government decided at the time to put off the final decision on the matter until 2021, but Tokayev said it was time to put the matter to rest.

(Reporting by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Alex Richardson)