Deadline for withdrawal of old Sh1,000 banknotes won’t be extended, CBK says
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor, Dr Patrick Njoroge, has said the deadline for the withdrawal of the old Sh1,000 banknote will not be extended.
Dr Njoroge, while speaking in Narok during the Churchill Show live recording, reiterated that the deadline for demonetization of the old Sh1,000 banknote remains to be September 30, as earlier stated.
“Let me take this chance to remind everyone that the deadline for demonetization will still be on September 30. Hope all of you are ready. Make sure you are not left with the old Sh 1,000 note,” Njoroge said at Narok Stadium on Saturday night.
The CBK governor used the opportunity to launch a campaign dubbed ‘Badilisha noti za elfu moja sasa’ (Exchange Sh1 000 notes now).
The campaign is meant to educate the public on the importance of exchanging the old notes with the new banknotes, which were launched on June 1, 2019 and have been on circulation since then.
SENSITIZATION CAMPAIGN
For the last one month, CBK has been on a countrywide sensitization campaign ahead of September 30 deadline for the demonetization of the old-generation Sh1,000 banknotes.
During the campaign in Kwale, Dr Njoroge said the bank had not received as much of the old notes as it had anticipated.
The introduction of the new banknotes was meant to disrupt the multi-billion shillings fake currency business in Kenya and across the region.
This however is far from being achieved as fake money in circulation has been reported in many parts of the country.