Islamabad: Cash-strapped Pakistan government has urged people to cut down on their consumption of tea as drinking fewer cups a day will help reduce import bills eating into the country’s dwindling forex reserves. According to The News International newspaper report, following an appeal by Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, it emerged that Pakistan consumed tea worth Rs 83.88 billion (USD 400 million) in the financial year 2021-22.
He said that Pakistan, the largest importer of tea in the world, has to borrow money to import it.
Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Iqbal said, “I appeal to the country to cut the consumption of tea by 1-2 cups as we import tea on debt.”
The federal budget document for the outgoing fiscal year shows that Pakistan imported 13 billion rupees (60 million USD) more tea than the previous fiscal year.
News network International News Agency reported that 70.82 billion rupees (US$340 million) were spent on tea imports in the financial year 2020-21.
Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves declined from around USD 16 billion in February to less than USD 10 billion in the first week of June, barely enough to cover two months’ worth of all its imports.
Last month, the government restricted the import of dozens of non-essential luxury items as part of its bid to save foreign exchange.
The Planning Minister said that the community of traders has also been asked to close the market by 8:30 to conserve energy.
Iqbal said that this will help the country in cutting down the import bill of petroleum products.
Recently, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail warned that Pakistan’s economy may be in the same condition as Sri Lanka If tough decisions are not taken.