Commercial banks in the country have been left in confusion after they started experiencing a shortage of new currency notes.
Central Bank Of Kenya has remained silent over the shortage that has forced banks to revert to the old notes.
A number of bank officials, who spoke on anonymity citing CBK’s “heavy-handedness” on the sector, claimed they started experiencing shortages from the second week after configuring their automated teller machines (ATMs).
Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) confirmed that some lenders were experiencing temporary shortages and other operational challenges.
It also added that the issues should be fixed as soon as the CBK supplies them with more of the new currency.
“The old notes are still legal tender and we shall continue operations side by side. Where there are shortages, nothing stops them from dispensing the old notes,” Habil Olaka, KBA chief executive stated.
“These are just some operational hitches but I do not expect that banks will still be dispensing the old notes come August and September,” he added.
Kenya has about 1,700 ATM machines, 780 commercial bank branches and 66,000 bank agents countrywide.
Days after the June 1 announcement of the new currency, commercial banks revealed that they had started configuring their ATMs to start dispensing the new currency.
With banks having reverted to the old currency, it means that some of the money that has been withdrawn from the market is being returned into circulation, making it a zero-sum game.
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