The German company Giesecke & Devrient had a licence to print money to fuel Zimbabwe's hyper-inflationary economy. But now that it has bowed to pressure to stop, who will print all those zeros on Robert Mugabe's bank notes?
Criticism of Giesecke & Devrient's money-printing work in Zimbabwe has been mounting for months. There were petitions in Zimbabwe, trawls into G&D's alleged connections to the Nazis, and even criticism in the House of Commons.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had said Giesecke & Devrient's Zimbabwe contract was a private matter.
But Sunday's one-candidate election following mounting violence appeared to be the final straw for the German government. Germany's foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, ordered the company to halt deliveries yesterday, according to the Wall Street Journal.
One expert suggested it could help the Zimbabwean economy. Steve H Hanke from the Johns Hopkins University told the WSJ that the solution to hyperinflation was to stop printing money.
But opposition treasurer Elton Mangoma said: "Our economy is too crazy to understand." A can of Coke costs 15bn Zimbabwe dollars.
