The Kenya Bankers Association has partnered with the Central Bank of Kenya, the Retail Association of Kenya (Retrak) and various supermarkets to raise awareness on the need for consumers to deposit or use their coins. Through the national Coin Week campaign, the partners will aim to stimulate coin circulation with an emphasis on urban areas which are currently grappling with a coin shortage.

“The key message is that coins are money too, and we should not disregard them,” said Mr. Habil Olaka, Chief Executive Officer of KBA. “More importantly, if we as consumers do not use the coins that we stash or forget around the house, those coins that we lose in our cars, and keep in offices etcetera, collectively we are contributing to the increase in the cost of consumer goods because retailers will simply just round up the per unit cost of their goods — for easier transactions at their point of sale/cash registers.”