‘Cutting chai’ | Pakistan Minister urges people to reduce tea consumption

Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal said that Pakistan, one of the biggest importers of tea in the world, has to borrow money to import it

Cash-strapped Pakistan has urged its countrymen to cut down the consumption of tea to help reduce the import bill eating into the country’s depleting foreign exchange reserves.

The appeal from Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal came after it emerged that Pakistan consumed tea worth Pakistani Rs 83.88 billion ($400 million) in the fiscal year 2021-22, The News International newspaper reported.

He said that Pakistan, one of the biggest importers of tea in the world, has to borrow money to import it.

“I appeal to the nation to cut down the consumption of tea by 1-2 cups because we import tea on loan," Mr. Iqbal said while speaking to reporters in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The federal budget document for the outgoing fiscal year showed that Pakistan imported Pakistani Rs 13 billion ($60 million) worth of more tea than the last fiscal year.

In the fiscal year 2020-21, Pakistani Rs 70.82 billion ($340 million) was spent on the import of tea, the News Network International news agency reported.

Mr. Iqbal’s appeal to cut down the consumption of tea by one to two cups did not go down well with people as they started criticising him on Twitter.