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SPEECH BY DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR FINANCE DURING THE LAUNCH OF CURRENCY CENTRES IN KENYA AND

OFFICIAL OPENING OF MERU CURRENCY CENTRE ON 19TH AUGUST, 2011 Governor, Central Bank of Kenya; Prof. Njuguna Ndungu The Provincial Commissioner Eastern Province; Ms. Claire Omollo MP for North Imenti; Hon. Silas Ruteere, His Worship the Mayor; Councillor Mr. Mwalimu John District Commissioner, Imenti North; Mr. David Cherop CEO Co-operative Bank Kenya Limited; Mr. Gideon Muriuki, Chief Executive Kenya Bankers Association; Mr. Habil Olaka, Commercial Bank Chief Executives and their Branch Managers here present; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen I am greatly honoured to be with you today as we gather to witness the launch of this Currency Centre- which is a precursor to the Centres we shall soon see being established in various towns across the nation. As we begin, I ask that you join me in commending the Central Bank of Kenya and the Kenya Bankers Association for embarking on this initiative which will undoubtedly bring about greater levels of efficiency and benefit many. LADIES & GENTLEMEN Join me, if you will , in a brief moment of reflection . A few years ago we as a nation declared our desire to create a globally competitive and prosperous Kenya by 2030. In line with this, we made it our objective to attain the status of an industrialising middle income country by that time. Today, I applaud the financial sector for effectively embracing the role they have to play in bringing about the realization of this particular objective and the greater vision that we have set our sights on. In the last fiscal year, the banking sectors assets, grew by 24.4%, customer deposits by 22.8%, loans by 20.7% and pre-tax profits by 51.9%. These remarkable turnouts have had A positive effect in driving Kenyans economy. In addition, the increased profitability of banks in the last fiscal year has contributed to the increase in tax revenue collected by KRA. Bearing in mind the vital role the financial sector is playing in bringing about the realisation of this vision, we acknowledge the significance of this launch knowing that this is one in a series of steps that will get us where we want to be. Already, Im informed, the banking industry has begun to reap the benefits of having currency centres in place. Their operational challenges have eased with many banks seeing up to 30% reduction in transportation costs- and the risks associated with long distance movement of money have been significantly lowered. In the future, Banks are also likely to see an expansion of their market niche and a reduction in the risk of defaults as investments increase. Yet perhaps the most important role that currency centres will play is in easing the burden of hardworking but financially disadvantaged Kenyans. The cost of banking services in our country remains an issue that we are still striving to address. In order for the whole nation to prosper, it is vital that we continue to strive for financial inclusion. I am

therefore extremely pleased to note that the main objective of operating Currency Centres is to lower the cost of doing banking business. I encourage all banks to take advantage of the currency centres already established to cut down their operational costs and ensure that the benefits accrued are passed on to their customers in order to lower the overall costs of financial services. I once again thank and congratulate the Central Bank of Kenya and the Kenya Association of Bankers for taking this notable step forward and challenging every sector in Kenya and every Kenyan citizen to do operate with the same level of forward-thinking. LADIES AND GENTLEMENT It is now my pleasure, to formally launch this initiative to create Currency Centres in Kenya and to declare the Meru Currency Centre officially, open. Thank you all, and God bless you.

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