Pakistan minister asks people to cut Chai tea drinking by a few cups per day

The government doesn't really have money to import more tea on loan.

They imported $640m worth of tea in 2020, the biggest importer in the world.

Forex reserves went from $16b to $10b in the last couple months.

Some say it seems unlikely the plea will have any effect, since tea drinking is done at home and isn't easy to monitor. 220m people in the country. The leaders of the country are not expected to be cutting down themselves, some say.

Pakistan is having long power cuts (up to 16 hours) in the energy shortage. All types of energy. 45 degree C temperatures these days.

Beijing operates lots of power plants in Pakistan. Right now those plants are turned off because Pakistan hasn't paid the Chinese companies. The IMF asked but China refused to renegotiate the agreements.

Pakistan had made LNG deals with Italy and Qatar, but those countries reportedly are selling their LNG to more lucrative markets (Europe) instead. The suppliers have to pay penalties (30% reportedly) but still they make profits by not delivering to Pakistan. Pakistan has to buy LNG at spot prices from the market.

They could try to get an IMF bailout but to get one they would have to remove all fuel subsidies. So the government doesn't have many options, and is asking people to not consume energy.