DOT Desk: Research and advocacy organisations Progga (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (Atma) have urged the government to introduce a tier-based specific supplementary duty to raise the prices of cigarettes in the upcoming national budget for 2023-24 FY,reports TBS.
During a pre-budget press conference held on Saturday at the National Press Club of the capital, they urged the policymakers to hike the retail price of the low-tier cigarettes to Tk55 from Tk40 for 10 sticks, followed by Tk35.75 as specific supplementary duty (65% of the final retail price).
Speakers at the press conference also informed that compared to other cigarette tiers, hiking prices at the low tier encourages the low-income people to quit smoking.Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, convener of the National Anti-Tobacco Platform, said, “As per the conditions set by the IMF for its loan package, Bangladesh needs to raise the revenue by at least an additional 0.5% of its GDP in the next FY.