The way out

IT is more than likely that PM's Finance Adviser Shaukat Tarin had already received the news about the World Bank's tying its issuing of a $300 million loan to Pakistan to IMF approval when he made his address to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which more or less touched on the main points he had made to the Karachi Chamber, and in which he shared his vision of the Pakistani economy. But perhaps of most interest to the common man was his assertion that the price of oil would soon be brought down to reflect the international decline in prices. He also said that core inflation, presently about 17 percent, should be brought down to about 5 percent. Though that would still be on the high side, it would be much better than the present situation.