Adel Maltani, chief of money exchangers in Makkah, said exchange of GCC currencies topped that of other countries in Makkah.

He said the big number of Umrah pilgrims, who have arrived taking advantage of the mid-term school vacation, is the reason for this. “Gulf currencies account for 40 percent of the exchange market,” he added.

According to him, the daily exchange transaction reaches one million Saudi riyals, which is low compared to five years ago, when it stood at SR5-6 million daily.

Maltani described the currency exchange market as “very slow,” saying: “We hope the next two months will be better when the sector’s data is released.”

He explained that the number of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims has declined and the number of Arab pilgrims coming from countries with political disturbances has also gone down. He added that he has not witnessed any recovery in the currency exchange movement for the last three years.

“The Egyptian currency that used to top the movement declined to the fourth position,” he said, adding that the US dollar is followed by the Turkish lire, the Egyptian pound and the Asian currencies in general.

Except for the Iranian currency, Maltani denied that shops took extra measure against any other currency. “Many shops refuse to deal with the Iranian currency, even the Iranian Umrah pilgrims themselves refuse to do so. They all prefer the US dollar for its fixed value against the Saudi riyal,” he said.

Commenting on the competition between local banks and exchange centers in the business of currency exchange he said: “The entrance of banks in the exchange business opened a competitive market able to regulate it and drive it to a better position.”

He said that the black market in currency exchange and fake currencies has decreased to the minimum compared to past years.

Banking reports released recently said the Egyptian pound has recorded a recovery against foreign currencies registering slight gains but stayed stabilized without any change against the dollar, selling at 6.99 EGP against the dollar and 6.96 EGP for the buy.

At the 150th foreign exchange auction of the Central Bank of Egypt last Wednesday, the dollar recorded a level of 6.95 EGP where the bank excepted 38.6 million of a total of 40 million it offered to banks.

The central bank evoked the dollar auctions in December 2012 to face the monetary bleeding of its reserves. Banking sources forecast further stabilization and recovery of the EGP after the decision of the monetary policy to fix the prices on deposits and loans at 8.25 and 9.25 percent respectively, to avoid “dollarization.”

Meanwhile, the Saudi riyal maintained its rate at 1.85 EGP for buying and 1.86 EGP for selling.