Kenyans lose 7.3 billion in old note phase-out

Kenyans have not returned over 7.3 billion shillings in the just completed demonetization process.

The Central Bank of Kenya has said that the money has now lost its value because it cannot be used anywhere.The set 30th September deadline was the last day the old notes were to be transacted.

CBK expected 217.6  million 1000 shilling notes  at the end of the process but only 209.6 million notes were returned.

“By September 30th 209,661,000 pieces had been exchanged and therefore 7,386,000 million pieces are still held by individuals as worthless money,” The Central Bank Governor Dr. Njoroge said.

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The old 1000 shillings notes{ source, IB Times UK}

He also said  in the demonetization exercise, 96 per cent of transactions were under Ksh 500,000 and 99 per cent of transactions were under Ksh 1 million.

He added that banks, forex bureaus, micro – finance institutions, money transfer and mobile money agents were all following the set guidelines during the process.

As a result, 3172 suspicious transactions were flagged during the period.

The Governor further gave out the guidelines in which the notes would be eradicated. He said that if they put in all the 217 million pieces, they would fit in only five 40 ft containers.

When the Central Bank receives banknotes, they punch and shred them into pieces, and stack them into a briquette .Each briquette contains 1,000,000 shredded notes.

Countries that have succeeded the demonetization process include  Pakistan (2016), the United Kingdom (2002), Australia (1996), and the European Union (2002).

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