Pakistanis, who are already battling high fuel prices and inflation, have now been urged to cut down on their daily tea consumption.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal appealed to the public to reduce their tea consumption by "one or two cups" per day as the tea leaves are imported and cause a financial strain.
In 2020, Pakistan imported $US646 million in tea, becoming the world's largest importer of the commodity, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
The country's political and economic fragility has been on display amid Imran Khan's ouster as prime minister, and foreign reserves falling below $US10 billion cover only about 45 days worth of imports.
Last week, Pakistan's cabinet gave its nod to reduce the country's official work week to five days from six in order to reduce energy and fuel consumption.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb has called the hours-long power outages "severe" and highlighted the need to "tap on every option to save on energy".
Pakistan has been pinning its hopes on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restart bailout payments.
It unveiled a 9.5 trillion Pakistani rupee ($US47 billion) budget for 2022-23 on Friday aimed at tight fiscal consolidation.
But the IMF's resident representative in Islamabad this week said that additional measures will be needed to bring Pakistan's budget in line with the key objectives of the lender's program.
Pakistan removed fuel subsidies last month following talks with the IMF.
ABC/Wires
