Kenyans have until October 31 to discard the current change one thousand shilling notes following the launch of the new generation bank notes by President Uhuru Kenyatta during the 56th Madaraka Day celebrations in Narok on June 1, 2019.
The new currency notes will be in Sh50, Sh100, Sh200, Sh500 and Sh1000 denominations.
The launch followed two policy directions by President Kenyatta on government payments and the clearance of all imported goods.
This means that all government suppliers will have to be paid before the phase out on the old currency notes. “All accounting officers in the national government should ensure that all pending bills that do not have audit queries are paid promptly and on priority basis before the end of this year.
The county governments should also fallow suit,” President Kenyatta said. But even as the government makes the decision, the launch will also go a long way in helping deal with wanton embezzlement of public funds as well as money laundering.
It will also help in enhancing liquidity in the financial sector by encouraging those who had embraced pillow banking due to uncertainty in the banking brought about by collapsing of banks, to return their money in circulation.
Fears abound that the looters of public coffers have created safes in their houses where they hide the monies and therefore curtailing circulation in the market. This means that that the government has to use a lot of resources to print new money.
