"There must be a way to earn more revenue for the government."
"But they also need to curtail their expenditure."
"Well, they can't slash foreign trips."
"Why can't they? I mean it's not as if there has been even one successful foreign trip."
"I thought all of them were declared successful."
"So declared by the government...don't forget we still don't have any money in our much depleted kitty...each time they return from these trips they talk of a positive response from wherever they go abegging but then the IMF programme is the only one that appears to be ours for the asking."
"I propose we take the IMF package, otherwise with the current global financial crisis there will be nothing left in the IMF kitty to give us if we continue to dither."
"That maybe true but we have to exhaust all avenues to get bilateral assistance before we go for IMF assistance as the IMF conditions are going to be very harsh."
"I thought we had exhausted all avenues. Now we are onto second trips to foreign countries..."
"That's true - the Saudi Arabia visit is the second one in less than six months."
"I guess but a country which is going to have a Friends of Pakistan meeting outside Pakistan..."
"Our friends are not likely to come here. It's a dangerous place. You know the UN has declared that Islamabad is no longer a family post."
"Oh dear, so now what?"
"I propose a capital gains tax, a tax on the rich absentee landlords, on the..."
"These taxes have all been resisted in the past."
"True but now we need..."
"I propose they should legalise alcohol and tax it. I propose that we legalise gambling and put a tax on that. Think the revenue generated for the government in Las Vegas."
"Un-Islamic all..."
"Yes, but it's not as if Pakistan is alcohol free or a gambling free country...Only the government is losing out on revenue."
"Not likely to happen, let it go. They will continue to do more of the same, ie slash development expenditure."
"Sad that."
"Indeed but there is one way they can curtail spending petty cash."
"How petty is it?"
"Well, the entourages on foreign trips must not be more than 50 people and..."
"That's really petty - how can you deny Umra to the 250 odd people who went with Zardari...why, that's downright not being religious."
"Don't be facetious."