The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has unveiled a series of important alterations to the country’s currency notes, aiming to align them with constitutional standards.
These changes will impact all denominations, including the 50, 100, 200, 500, and 1,000 Kenyan shilling notes.
This comes at a time when the Supreme Court ruled that that all financial institutions in Kenya to must obtain explicit approval from the Finance Cabinet Secretary before implementing any increases in loan interest rates.
Four Banknote Changes
In an official statement, the CBK emphasized that these modifications are an enhancement of the existing currency and will coexist with the previously circulated notes. The four principal changes to the banknotes are as follows:
– The inclusion of Dr. Kamau Thugge’s signature, the current Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
– The addition of Dr. Chris Kiptoo’s signature, the Principal Secretary of the National Treasury.
– The updated year of print, which will now read 2024.
– The introduction of new security threads featuring denomination-specific color-changing effects, enhancing the notes’ anti-counterfeiting measures.
The CBK statement clarified,
“The rest of the features remain the same as those of the series issued in 2019. All banknotes currently in circulation remain legal tender and will circulate alongside the released banknotes.”
This currency update will be implemented gradually, beginning with the highest denomination. The CBK announced.
“The release of the currency notes will begin with Ksh.1,000 while other denominations will follow in the coming months.”
