Ahsan Iqbal’s suggestion to reduce tea consumption leaves the netizens least impressed

Ahsan Iqbal’s suggestion to reduce tea consumption leaves the netizens least impressed!

It was the other day when the Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal urged the citizens to cut down the consumption of ‘chai’ amid a ballooning import bill draining forex reserves.

Sipping fewer cups a day would cut Pakistan’s high import bills, senior minister Ahsan Iqbal said.

“I appeal to the nation to cut down the consumption of tea by 1-2 cups because we import tea on loan,” Iqbal said.

The planning minister said the traders’ community has also been asked to close markets by 8:30 pm to conserve energy.

He added by doing so will help the country cut the import bill of petroleum products.

The appeal from the federal minister comes after it came to light that the nation consumed tea worth Rs83.88 billion in the fiscal year 2021-22.

The federal budget document for the outgoing fiscal year showed that Pakistan imported Rs13 billion worth of more tea than the last fiscal year.

While Rs70.82 billion was spent on the import of tea in the fiscal year 2020-21.

It won’t be wrong to say that Tea holds the status of the national beverage, but unfortunately not produced within the country.

Pakistan is the world’s largest importer of tea, which bought more than $600m worth last year.

The very thought of reducing the tea intake hasn’t sat well with the netizens.