July 2nd 2019 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s Central Bank (BOSS) has ordered private and commercial banks to suspend transactions in Kenyan currency, a senior official at the Central Bank said.
At the request of Kenya, South Sudan has decided to enforce the order which the official said acts as a guideline policy aimed at controlling illicit financial flows and counterfeit.
“The Central Bank of Kenya has informed us that it has started issuance of a new series of Kenyan shillings banknotes,” Moses Makur, Director General for Banking Supervision, Research and Statistics at the Central Bank said.
“Given these concerns, the Bank of South Sudan hereby directs all the commercial banks and other non-bank financial institutions to be vigilant and to subject all such transactions to strict due diligence,” the Bank said in the order obtained by the Nyamilepedia.
It further urged the commercial banks not to accept transactions in the newly unveiled Kenyan Shillings or they may end up circulating illicit flows of Kenya’s currency.
“We are specifically directing you to immediately stop accepting deposits in Kenyan shillings to ensure that illicit flows in Kenyan shillings do not return to Kenya’s financial system through financial institutions in South Sudan,” said.
Last month, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) unveiled new-generation currency notes, with a view to get rid of the old banknotes that are prone to illicit and counterfeiting activities.
The generation old currency used in parallel with the new banknotes is expected to expire in early October.
