Key Takeaways:
- The Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Dr Patrick Njoroge, hosted a press briefing on Thursday, January 27, 2022.
- In this meeting, Dr Patrick Njoroge said Kenya’s stance on cryptocurrencies remains unchanged.
- Njoroge revealed that the central bank will be talking more about cryptocurrencies in the near future.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, Dr. Patrick Njoroge, hosted a press briefing on Thursday, January 27, 2022. This press briefing was hosted after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Wednesday, January 26, 2022. In this meeting, Dr. Patrick Njoroge said Kenya’s stance on cryptocurrencies remains unchanged.
Njoroge revealed that the central bank will be talking more about cryptocurrencies in the near future. The comments made by Njoroge are a reiteration of the regulator’s long-held opposition to the use of cryptocurrencies in Kenya. During the press briefing, Njoroge answered some questions asked by journalists.
The journalist from Bloomberg news asked him questions about Cryptocurrency and he answered them. The question asked by the journalist was what is CBK’s strategy on cryptocurrency? Does it have any plan to grow in CBDC and if so then what are the plans?
In answer to his question the governor said “I think we will be speaking more completely about this space, not just cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency is one lever, one little area. So we will be speaking more completely about this in the near future but I guess in the medium term. So please be patient on that but suffice to say that our position has not changed on any of those products that are out there”.
The Kenyan Central Bank has issued circulars to local banks warning them not to deal with cryptocurrencies or transact with cryptocurrencies-related businesses. According to The Kenyan Wall Street, the most recent circular was issued in 2018. Despite the Central Bank’s anti-crypto stance, Kenya leads Africa in crypto adoption. Kenya is also ranked fifth in the world.
According to Dr Patrick Njoroge, the country was interested in exploring the use of central bank digital currency (CBDC) to settle cross-border payments in November 2021. A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is money that exists solely in electronic form and is issued, regulated, and backed by the government by the nation’s monetary authority.
