President Niyazov of Turkmenistan has ordered its central bank to print more money after a dramatic fall in the value of the national currency, the manat.

He also ordered the security services to clamp down on black market traders, selling the manat and gold on the streets.

His action came two days after strict new currency controls were imposed to try to stop Turkmens rushing to exchange their manats for dollars.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says the fall in the manat follows Russia's financial crisis but is being fuelled by Turkmenistan's inability to sell what should be its main export - natural gas.