Hundreds of shops, restaurants and petrol stations in Moldova have closed in response to today's collapse of the country's currency, the leu.

The leu lost more than one-third of its value forcing banks to suspend hard-currency trading.

The collapse follows Monday's statement by the Central Bank that it would no longer defend the leu, after spending some one-hundred-and-twenty-million dollars or almost half the national reserves on this.

The centre-right coalition government is expected to adopt a draft budget tomorrow, expected to be the most austere since Moldova became independent in 1991.