Can the PM breathe new life into the economy?

The fall in petrol prices might well be a function of falling crude prices, but it couldn't have come at a better time for the Prime Minister whose single biggest challenge now is to improve the state of the economy, improve confidence in the consumer and the investor. On top of the agenda is an effort to remove obstacles to foreign investment, hit badly by a controversial tax amendment in the last budget, and one of reasons for the fall of the rupee against the dollar. As Dr Singh takes charge of the finance ministry, now that Pranab Mukherjee has his sights set on Rashtrapati Bhavan, the effort is to soothe nerves.