No more ‘sweets’ as change, CBK warns traders

By James Anyanzwa

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has directed supermarkets and other retail outlets to stop issuing sweets or match boxes in place of coin-change.

“This is a practice that we would like to see stopped,” said CBK Governor Prof Njuguna Ndung’u.

Ndung’u said CBK has so far issued into circulation over 1.31 billion pieces of coins in various denominations with an estimated face value of Sh5.1 billion.

He said in the month of October 2012 alone the bank released 9 million pieces of coins into circulation while in November 2012, a further 12 million pieces have so far been released.

“We believe these coins are more than adequate to serve the economy,” said Ndung’u.

He noted that coins should be readily available in all retail outlets in order to ensure proper pricing and avoid undue retail price hikes or issuance of token items in lie of coins.

He said the bulk of the coins are being held by members of the public either in their homes, offices or car pouches.

Re-circulating

“This trend seems to be continuing and we need to find a mechanism to end or discourage it. It is therefore clear that the problem of inadequacy of coins in circulation cannot be addressed by adding new coins but by ensuring that there is an efficient mechanism for re-circulating existing coins within the economy,” he said.

Ndung’u was speaking during the launch of the 2012 National Coin Week dubbed ‘Chomoa Coins Campaign’ in Nairobi yesterday.

He noted that Central bank through the commercial banks has continued to ensure that there are adequate quantities of coins in circulation.

Ndung’u pointed out that CBK in collaboration with all the stakeholders would continue to explore ways of addressing bottlenecks in the coin circulation system and strive to provide solutions