German Stores Face Coin Shortage

Germany's retail industry is facing a major shortage of small change. Retail giant Metro has been forced to import truckloads of euro coins from Austria. "The Bundesbank isn't delivering the volumes of small denomination cent coins we need," a Metro spokesman said, referring to Germany's central bank. Two leading grocery chains, Edeka and Rewe, admitted that small change has become an issue, although they said they didn't yet have to rely on coin imports. German shoppers who use euro bills to buy goods for fear of holding up other customers at cash registers are thought to be partly to blame. Tight supplies of the metals used to make the coins are exacerbating the shortage. "Many citizens don't part with the copper coins because they're too heavy to carry or because they collect them," a Bundesbank spokeswoman said. The Bundesbank is now urging Germans to spend their stores of small change, and has urged retailers to accept larger sums in coins.