, Oct. 7 -- Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed on Tuesday said he is 'reasonably comfortable' with the current state of the country's economy.

"I'm comfortable from the economic side. We are, more or less, a bit confident," he told reporters after a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Public Purchase at the Secretariat.

The adviser, however, criticised the way poverty is being measured in recent surveys.

When his attention was drawn regarding a report that stated the poverty rate of the country has increased significantly, Dr Salehuddin questioned the methodology. "Somebody said poverty has increased based on telephone interviews of 5,000 people. I know how they measure it," he said.

He said one person even told him to write...