Zimbabwe Central Bank governor John Mushayavanhu.

The Zimbabwean financial sector will update its payment systems this week to be compliant with the country’s new currency, ZiG, which was unveiled on Friday.

The conversion process for sectors aside from financial services will continue until Friday, April 12th.

Following that, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe expects all online payment platforms to operate smoothly for financial transactions.

The Southern African country established its new gold-backed currency called ZiG – Zimbabwe Gold – in its latest attempt to stabilise an economy that has been in constant turmoil for the past 25 years.

The ZiG notes are designed with different security measures, such as watermarks, fluorescent security threads, and QR codes, which the Central Bank says will prevent counterfeiting and safeguard the currency's integrity.

Central Bank governor John Mushayavanhu said the ZiG would be structured and based on a market-determined exchange rate.

The ZiG replaces the Zimbabwean dollar, or RTGS, which has lost three-quarters of its value so far this year.

On Saturday, the Central Bank said the banking sector and payment systems providers have made satisfactory progress in converting Zimbabwean dollar balances to ZiG balances since the announcement of Monetary Policy measures on 5 April, 2024.

“As advised in the Monetary Policy Statement and Statutory Instrument 60 of 2024, the transacting public has a transitional period of up to 21 days to convert their Zimbabwean dollar notes and coins to ZiG,” said Mushayavanhu in a statement.

He added: “The Reserve Bank calls upon the public to exercise patience while the banking sector, the business community and the rest of the economy are transitioning to the new normal.”