This archive report was first published on 22 July 2019.
On July 22, 2019, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) broke its silence on the reported shortage of new currency notes that has slowed down the Ksh.1,000 demonetization process.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge linked the reported glitch to the rollout of the new notes, which has seen the majority of old notes retained.
"When we started off, the first batch of notes were there to give Kenyans a taste of the new currency. However, you should expect bank ATMs to churn out new Ksh.1,000 notes from this week," he said in a radio interview.
According to a senior banking official, banks reverted to using the old series Ksh.1000 notes and recalibrated their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to allow dispensing of old currency notes.
The CBK governor assured that the full-circle circulation of the new notes would be completed under the now reduced window of two months to the night of September 30.
"We have a sound plan to ensure that new currency notes hit all parts of the country. We have two months to go and are convinced that the window is adequate to facilitate the entire demonetization process," he added.
