No More German Paper For Zimbabwe Money

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, is under pressure. Days after his widely condemned reelection, the U.S. and other countries are considering sanctions. And some companies that do business with Zimbabwe are pulling out. Among then, the German firm, Giesecke & Devrient. Heiko Witzke is a company spokesman.

Mr. HEIKO WITZKE (Spokesman, Giesecke & Devrient): We have taken this step in response to an official request we received from the German government, and quote, "for the international sanctions by the European Union and the United Nations."

MICHELE NORRIS, host:

This company had an expanding business in Zimbabwe, that's because it makes the special used for printing back notes; Zimbabwe needs a lot of those. The country suffers from sever hyperinflation, prices rose 165,000 percent in February alone. A loaf of bread costs $30 billion, that's billion with a B. And at $3 billion, a pint of milk, well, that's a relative bargain.

Zimbabwe deals with the hyperinflation by printing more and more banknotes with more and more zeroes. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.