"Ishaq Dar sahib gave different budgetary expenditure figures to parliament and to the International Monetary Fund (IMF)."
"So that surprises you?"
"Well yes, because I don't think any Pakistani Finance Minister has done this before."
"Look at it as the glass being half full. Remember Star Trek opening line: Dar sahib has gone where no finance minister has gone before."
"Not that again! Are you referring to Dar sahib thumbing his nose at the Fund, which incidentally seems to be a bit longer since he was given the Finance portfolio..."
"Hey, don't be facetious, our Dar sahib is no Pinocchio, he is more one of the Three Musketeers, wherever and whenever Mian sahib is in trouble along comes Dar..."
"OK, but let me clarify, the submission of the budget document was an IMF prior condition and need I add three weeks later the budget was announced and Dar sahib had raised the allocation for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to 875 billion rupees from the 636 billion rupees that he told the Fund he would allocate?"
"The question is who did he speak the truth to?"
"Ha ha ha that's a good one - probably to neither."
"Absolutely and the proof of Dar sahib's pudding is in what he stated in the budget for 2015-16 and what he claimed he had achieved to the Fund: he showed 151 billion rupee lower disbursements for last year to the Fund than to parliament."
"Well, my friend he is relying on an ill informed parliament and I for one would bring to his notice an oft cited proverb: you can fool some of the people some of the time but you can't fool all of the people all of the time."
"And need I add the people fooled were the IMF staff!"
"Well, I would take the Uncle Sam line here."
"Uncle Sam?"
"The US government: remember what the US government accused the Pakistani intelligence agencies of after they killed Osaam bin Laden: you are either complicit or incompetent. So I ask the mission leader Harald Finger the same question: were you complicit or simply incompetent?"
"That's tantamount to giving the finger to poor Finger sahib and as you are not the US government I would like to cut you down to size..."
"Not necessary, I am Tom Thumb."
"Don't be facetious."