Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

Zimbabwean banks are almost through with the process of converting Zimbabwean Dollar balances into the new Zimbabwe Gold currency (ZIG) according to the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ).

The Association’s Chief Executive Officer,  Fanuel Mutogo revealed that 13 out of 16 banks have successfully completed the process, with the remaining 3 banks expected to finish off today.

“In terms of our membership I can safely reveal that we have 16 banks and out of that 13 have fully managed to comply meaning that we are left with three due to the nature of their deposit base. However, by the end of the day today we are expecting all banks to be fully compliant. Right now the transactions cannot be undertaken because the interbank system requires all banks to be fully ZiG compliant.

“We started over the weekend, but the move has come when we did not expect it to take longer. However for the sake of a smooth transition in protecting depositors’ money and future transactions, we are still satisfied with the progression rate in as much as the entire financial sector is concerned,” he said.

The newly launched ZIG currency is expected to start circulating in the country from 30 April. However, various companies have already started to price products and services in ZIG. For instance,  Pick n Pay retail shops have now pegged the prices of commodities in ZIG.