Pakistan is one of the top tea importers in the world and the brew is extremely popular among rich and poor. The typical Pakistani is believed to drink at least three cups a day on average. The government has to spend around 500 500 million a year on the central bank’s hard currency reserves for tea imports. The prime minister, Shahbaz Sharif, who took office in April after ousting Imran Khan by a vote of no confidence, has pledged to improve the troubled economy and meet conditions set by the International Monetary Fund in a bid to revive a $ 5 bailout package. billion pounds. . However, the call of the Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal to drink less tea surprised many. “I urge people to reduce their consumption of tea by one or two cups a day, because we are also borrowing money for imported tea,” Iqbal told a news conference on Tuesday. There have been calls on social media for Iqbal to resign. Dil Sher, who has a roadside tea shop on the outskirts of Islamabad, said: “Yesterday Ahsan Iqbal asked us to drink less tea and tomorrow they may say we should eat less. Is it a solution? “ The government has increased the price of fuel, gas and electricity by up to 45%, sending food prices soaring. Last week, Sharif’s cabinet presented its first budget to parliament for approval, imposing more taxes on the rich and pledging to cut subsidies on energy and fuel, as required by the IMF. Long power outages across Pakistan have also made the Sharif coalition government unpopular. Khan’s now-opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party claimed the Sharif government had damaged the economy just two months after taking office. Sharif says he is paying the price for the mismanagement of his predecessor government. During his three-and-a-half years in power, the Khan government also faced criticism, including when a lawmaker from his party, Riaz Fatyana, asked people to use less sugar and eat only one loaf of bread instead of one. for more, amid a shortage of sugar and wheat. In Pakistan, most people consume roti, a flat bread similar to Indian naan. Pakistan’s currency, the rupee, fell to a record low against the US dollar on Wednesday. According to the central bank, the rupee fell to 206 against the dollar.
