Burundi: lack of new banknotes of 5000 and 10000 which replace the old ones in some banks and microfinance

Since this Friday morning, banks and microfinances clients have responded to the Burundi central bank governor’s call. The BRB governor gave a ten-day-period to deposit the 5,000 and 10,000 Burundian franc notes dated July 4, 2018 in bank accounts. The currency are replaced by new ones dated November 7, 2022. But those who make deposits in some microfinance and banks in the economic capital Bujumbura and in the province of Rumonge in southwestern Burundi say they are disappointed. They were not served in new banknotes as announced in a press release by the BRB. INFO SOS Médias Burundi

Bank customers who came to exchange the old notes of 10,000 and 5,000 Burundian francs say they were not served in new notes as ordered by the central bank.

According to an employee of a bank in Bujumbura who spoke on condition of anonymity, customers who came to exchange the 10,000 and 5,000F notes were served in notes of 2,000 Burundian francs.

“Banks and microfinance have not yet been supplied with new notes. We have served our customers with 2,000 franc notes. The lack of these notes is disrupting our activities,” he says indignantly.

This lack of new banknotes complicates the withdrawal of old banknotes and prevents the effective implementation of the central bank’s decision, according to an official of a microfinance institution.

On Thursday, the BRB released a press release asking banks and microfinance to send it a daily report of the withdrawal of these old banknotes.

Some residents of the commercial city Bujumbura are beginning to have doubts about the motives behind the withdrawal of these banknotes. They believe that the 10-day period granted for all the old 10,000 and 5,000 banknotes of July 4, 2018 to have been withdrawn from circulation is very short, as banks and microfinance experienced a shortage of new banknotes from first day.