DHAKA: The state minister for finance has said that the government will increase the taxes on all tobacco products in the next budget to be announced in June. MA Mannan said this would be in line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to eradicate the use of tobacco by 2040.
The PM made the promise in a recent South Asian’s Speakers’ summit in Dhaka. The state minister speaking at a roundtable on Monday in Dhaka said the finance minister had already instructed the National Board of Revenue to increase the tobacco taxes in the next budget.
Study showed that the prices of tobacco products were decreasing in Bangladesh as the taxes were not levied considering the purchasing power of the people. There are different price slabs of cigarettes. Speakers at the roundtable urged the government to lift the price slabs for simplifying the tobacco taxation.
The US-based Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids supported the roundtable jointly organised by the National Heart Foundation Hospital, United Forum Against Tobacco, and Progga. Lawmakers Saber Hossain Chwdhury and Abdul Matin Khashru also spoke at the roundtable, among others.
