In terms of exchange rates, there is currently a crisis, because if you look at the official price, and you look at the gray market price there is a 100% difference, and that needs to be addressed, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Thursday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "Historically, we have seen rapid transitions being most efficient, but it's really a matter of circumstances." IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said to reporters that "progress has been made on a number of objectives and actions" under the USD12bn loan programme, and that the IMF expects "the program to come to the board within the next few weeks." Rice stated that the board consideration depends on the government putting up the USD6bn in bilateral financing required for the IMF to supplement cUSD4bn in the first year funding, and that Egypt has made a good progress to secure such funding including contributions from China, Saudi Arabia and G7 countries. Still, additional progress is needed toward key reforms as per the IMF staff-level agreement with Egypt reached in July, including steps to implement a recently passed budget and VAT, a plan to reduce energy subsidies, and efforts to "move gradually" toward a more flexible exchange rate, he said. The programme would not include food subsidy cuts, but it would allow for some budget savings to be diverted to programmes that aid the poor instead, calling this a ‘cornerstone’ of the deal. (Bloomberg, Reuters)