There have been reports of a shortage of the newly launched Banknotes. However, the Central Bank Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge said that the notes will increase in circulation starting this week.
Dr. Njoroge made the announcement while appearing before the Public Investment Parliamentary committee. “People will get their salaries in new banknotes this month,” he told the team. The new-look notes were first issued on 1st June but they have been in low supply.
Kenyans’ focus is on the new generation 1,000 notes following CBK’s directive to demonetize the old-look 1,000 banknotes.
Dr. Njoroge said that most banks have reconfigured their ATMs to dispense the new notes. The CBK Governor informed parliamentarians that they have started supplying the new notes to ATMs in far-flung areas of Kenya and highly populated areas such as Nairobi, Mombasa, and Kisumu. The Kenyan financial regulator picked some useful lessons on demonetization from India. India encountered several hurdles in 2016 while phasing out the 500 and 1,000 banknotes.
The old 1,000 banknotes will cease circulating on 1st October 2019. Nonetheless, the old KSh500, KSh200, KSh100, and KSh50 notes will be slowly phased out.
