JEDDAH — Iranian Umrah performers are obliged to use US dollars instead of the rial because the Iranian currency hit record low, forcing Makkah money exchangers to refuse it, an Arabic daily reported. Adel Maltani, head of the currency exchangers committee in Makkah, said 10,000 Iranian rials do not exceed 75 halalas while in the past this was equal to four Saudi riyals. “That's why Iranian Umrah pilgrims use US dollars now.” Over the past three months, the currency exchange rate has dropped 20 percent compared with the same period last year. The Iranian currency is collapsing and Iranian Umrah performers have not brought any Iranian currency with them this year. Most of Umrah performers are not exchanging large amounts of money this year, Maltani said. This is also true of those who come from countries that have been going through political turmoil. The exchange of Egyptian pounds dropped drastically. “We noticed that this year the number of Umrah performers from Algeria and Morocco has dropped compared with the last year. Turkish Umrah performers have been the most active customers in the currency exchange market,” Maltani said. He noted that the new regulations introduced recently by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) have played an effective role in controlling the currency exchange market. He added that these regulations have prevented unlicensed currency exchange agencies from engaging in any exchange-related activities. “When the regulations entered into force, they shut down over 14 agents who were not licensed and opened the door for new properly-licensed agents to compete in the market.”
