"Dar is extremely hospitable."
"Well, he has never invited me."
"Who are you? Just a member of the media who challenges his carefully calibrated data."
"Excuse me, but data should not be calibrated, it should be what it is. Unless the data is credible how can one possibly hope to take appropriate policy measures to sort out macro and micro level problems?"
"And I have an answer for you: an accountant."
"Excuse me?"
"An accountant can take carefully calibrated data..."
"Oh, you are being facetious."
"But surely Dar as an accountant has shown the truth of my contention."
"His policies are only looking good because of the calibrated data and..."
"Right, and that's the term of reference of any accountant for Pete's sake. It may not be the term of reference of an economist but Mian sahib has shown time and again that he supports an accountant over an economist and you guys voted him to power so let him be."
"Wow, that's some defence! Anyway Dar, as I began by saying, is extremely hospitable. He dragged a reluctant Jeffrey Franks - the IMF mission leader for Pakistan's loan - to Islamabad, I mean the third quarterly review took place in Dubai and so there was no need to drag the poor fellow here - and the review was held in Dubai because the IMF management did not consider Pakistan safe and..."
"Dar wanted Franks' presence here to show to the world that law and order was not an issue."
"I doubt if Dar would do that to benefit someone else's ministry - especially that of his nemesis Chaudhry Nisar - I reckon he brought the guy here to say that the economy was doing very well under Dar and..."
"Franks didn't say that did he!"
"No, these decadent Westerners, no sense of namak halali (paying the price of hospitality) which is why this time he invited the Japanese head of Asian Development Bank - you know the Japanese are more cultured."
"But then the Japanese guy did not issue a press statement, Dar's office did and that's kind of not quite believable. Besides more than 90 percent of ADB lending is at market rates, the concessional lending is on the basis of performance and our performance has not been good, the calibrated data notwithstanding..."
"Dar says the Japanese guy agreed to extend a loan for Diamer-Bhasha dam - can he?"
"Well, if it violates ADB's environment and indigenous peoples' policies then no."
"Dear me, did anyone tell Dar that?"
"Well Dar doesn't listen to anyone but the PM and last I heard the PM was not telling him."