CBK Unearths Ksh25 Billion Old Notes as Deadline Looms

CBK on Wednesday announced that a massive Ksh25 billion has resurfaced into circulation a month after it announced the demonetization of the old Ksh1000 notes.

This saw money outside of banks, in coins and notes, reduce by nearly one-tenth from Ksh222 billion to Ksh196 billion, according to the latest data from the CBK.

In his Madaraka Day Speech on June 1, CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge noted that his team had since reached the conclusion that the Ksh1,000 notes were being used for illicit financial flows in the country and region.

30 days after he had made the speech, currency outside of banks dropped by almost a tenth in what was a pointer to the desperation by Kenyans, some who had hidden their hard-earned and for some, illicit money in their homes, to beat the September 30 deadline.

The other banknotes Ksh50, Ksh100, Ksh200 and Ksh500 old notes, will, however, remain as legal tender despite new currency being introduced under these lots.

Return of the cash into banks is given credence by a corresponding jump of money in bank accounts which increased by Ksh22 billion.

With the foreign currency deposits also experiencing a huge jump, it could explain where the missing Ksh3 billion could have gone.

Kenyans are keen to see what July and August data, which is yet to be compiled, will reveal even as CBK governor goes on a campaign trail urging Kenyans to return the old Ksh1,000 notes for replacement.

The injection of Ksh25 billion into bank accounts coincided with the payment of pending bills by Government, reported to be around Ksh10 billion.

As the deadline looms, CBK officials are on the look-out how much of the cash ‘hidden under mattresses’ will be returned.

A specimen on the new kenyan Ksh1000 note
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