Chris Jarvis, IMF’s Chief of Mission to Egypt, said the USD12bn loan signed with Egypt would be divided into three tranches, which would be disbursed over six payments. The first tranche will be worth USD4bn, divided into two installments worth USD2.5bn and USD1.5bn. The first USD2.5bn installment will be disbursed immediately after IMF board approval without waiting for specific reform measures; it could be as early as September 2016. The second tranche is planned to be disbursed by March 2017. The remaining tranches would be disbursed based on period reviews of reform measures, he said, adding that the first review would take place in February or March. The14% VAT baseline rate is appropriate if exemptions are not extensive, he said, adding that the fund had not discussed the exemption list with the government. He said that the fund wants Egypt to focus monetary policy on easing the chronic USD shortage by moving to a flexible exchange rate regime, while reducing inflation to single digits, and that devaluation is only months away. The IMF is not worried about the implementation, given the strong support to the reform programme from the country’s leadership, he asserted. (Reuters, Al Shorouk, Al Masry Al Youm)