CBK raises alarm as cash transactions in old Sh1,000 notes less September.

Governor, Patrick Njoroge “The Global Economy: A Kenyan Perspective” at the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB) on September 30th, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has raised concern over huge transactions by wheat farmers and traders in Narok County ahead of the demonetization of the old Sh1,000 note on September 30.

CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge on Tuesday said the regulator is concerned with the usage of the old Sh,000 notes by traders in the county.

“Currently we have a problem with Narok now they are harvesting their wheat and so we have seen an influx of purchasers who are purchasing wheat and they are quit a concern to us,” said CBK.

Additionally, 24 transactions of the total amount collected were above Sh2 million with an average of Sh3.1 million per transaction.

“Kenyans are yet to return all old Sh1,000 notes with the neighboring countries like Uganda and Tanzania who have already finished conversions and they are just waiting for the deadline,” Njoroge added.

Njoroge also said that businessmen are at liberty to conduct their business with the old currency so long as they have mechanism in place to comply with the September 30 deadline.
The CBK Governor was speaking during the post Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

Njoroge also said that businessmen are at liberty to conduct their business with the old currency so long as they have mechanism in place to comply with the September 30 deadline.

The regulator maintains that Kenya’s economy will grow to 5.8 per cent and will close at 6 per cent by end of 2019.

The growth is attributed to stable microeconomic conditions, especially on political stability.

Private sector credit rose to 6.3 per cent in the latest review as compared to 6.1 per cent in July.
This was attributed to ongoing reforms in the banking sector to tighten Credit Information sharing mechanism and transparency in pricing.

However, CBK warned on external factors such as trade wars between US and China, uncertainty on response to things happening in the global market, expected consolidation on Kenya’s fiscal market among others.