An Egyptian man walks past a poster showing a US dollar outside an exchange office in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 3, 2016.

Despite the fact that the Egyptian Central Bank had not released any figures regarding the dollar trade on the black market, unofficial estimates revealed that speculation on the US currency in the black market have recorded nearly $40 billion from January 2011 till the end of 2016.

Official Egyptian authorities did not confirm or deny these figures. Ahmed Zanati, who heads land developer al-Marwa, said that a large number of currency traders and speculators have shifted to the real estate market due to the instability of the exchange market and their inability to carry on currency speculations due to the tight measures imposed by regulatory agencies.

Speaking to Al Arabiya, he pointed out that a large number of traders had recently entered the real estate and luxury housing market, because it is a more stable domain.

He added that a large part of the liquidity that was used in speculating on the dollar has moved to the real estate market, boosting land prices to a great extent. The demand for land increased by more than 50 percent, with the entry of a number of traders and buyers who seek to invest in this sector instead of the money markets.

The dollar is being traded in Egypt between 17.95 and 18.07 pounds and the the exchange rate of the dollar on the black market is about to witness a decline, to around 17.75 pounds.