New Delhi: Pakistan’s Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal, has a new idea to keep the country’s economy afloat: drink less tea.
“I appeal to the nation to reduce tea intake by one or two cups daily because we borrow money for tea import as well,” Iqbal told a group of mediapersons Tuesday, outside a local court in Islamabad.
Pakistan is currently in the throes of a severe economic crisis, and steeped in a $6.4 billion debt. Iqbal’s ministry is responsible for policy initiatives aimed at improving economic growth, among others.
Pakistan is the world’s biggest importer of tea, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity. It had imported $646 million worth of tea in 2020. Its foreign reserves fell from $16 billion in February to less than $10 billion in June, “barely enough to cover the cost of two months of all its imports,” say reports.
Apart from consuming less tea, Iqbal also suggested that traders wrap up their work early to save on energy.
His statements have gone viral, with international media platforms BBC and CNN covering the news.
As Pakistan struggles to convince the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailout payments, citizens of the country—worst hit by the crisis and who seem to love their chai as much as Indians do—ridiculed Iqbal’s suggestion.
“This way, if I don’t go to work for seven days I’ll save on petrol. What kind of solution is this?” said a panelist on the Samaa TV news channel. “The ministers of this country don’t want to work hard to resolve these problems.”
Also read: ‘First roti, now tea?’ Pakistan’s angry response to minister who wants them to drink less
Leave the tea alone
Like India, Pakistan inherited its tea drinking habit from the British. But unlike India, tea plantations and commercial cultivation never quite took off, leaving its role in the national economy fairly small. According to the OEC, Pakistan exported around $15 million of tea, mainly to the US, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Canada.
According to researchers with the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, tea cultivation in Pakistan began only in 1958, with a specialised government unit dedicated to tea plantations set up in 1973-74.
Despite decades having gone by, Pakistan’s tea cultivation has hardly grown. According to reports, the country produces 10 million tonnes of tea on a 50 acre patch of land. A study from 2017 found that 64,000 hectares of land in the country were suitable for tea cultivation. Promises of large scale tea cultivation still rise from time to time.
Last year, then-special assistant to the prime minister on food security, Jamshed Iqbal Cheema said the country would roll out a plan to cultivate 25,000 hectares of tea over the next five years.
Pakistan’s average per capita tea consumption is 1 kg, which explains the general displeasure directed towards minister Iqbal’s suggestion.
An article in Dawn Images called the remark the PML(N)’s “‘let them eat cake’ moment”. “At a time when the ordinary Pakistani has very little left in terms of luxury, for a politician to be telling them to rid themselves of the small luxury they have in a simple cup of chai is the icing on the cake,” it said.
“Why is the burden of the successive governments’ failures being pushed onto the people?” it added.
Pakistanis too didn’t like the minister’s remark and vented their frustration and anger through memes or sarcastic takes on social media.
Ahsan Iqbal: Chai peena kum kardo
Pakistanis: pic.twitter.com/oEOwCT4D3w
— FHM Pakistan (@pakistan_fhm) June 15, 2022
Ahsan Iqbal: Awam chai ki ek ek do do pyaali kam kar den.
Me: pic.twitter.com/OkoX4pUQqu
— maham (@_mahamchaudhry) June 14, 2022
Ahsan Iqbal asks nation to cut down "tea" consumption.. meanwhile Pakistani Awam be like #AhsanIqbal pic.twitter.com/VU5mAT9rZb
— Unpopular Opinion (@DrSehrish_Ali) June 14, 2022
Noor ul Afreen, a TV news moderator with BOL news, didn’t hold back his outrage either.
“Why isn’t the government talking about booze? Will they name all those who spend money and drink alcohol?” he asked, “People are not drinking tea for free, they’re paying tax for it. Tomorrow if they say we should walk around naked, should we do it?”
(Edited by Prashant)