Campaigners urge govt to increase tobacco prices, taxes to fund budget

Anti-tobacco campaigners have urged the government to increase prices and taxes for tobacco products to fund the proposed budget for FY 2020-21.

The government could collect Tk 11 billion in revenues from tobacco sector and the use of such products can be reduced if the proposed tax and price measures from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and anti-tobacco activists were adopted, they said during an online budget reaction event organised by Knowledge for Progress (PROGGA) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) on Monday.

Such revenues can become a source of funds for the government lump-sum allotment and stimulus package, campaigners added.

 Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed to increase the tax on tobacco products, calling it an initiative to decrease the use of tobacco while increasing the revenue collection, as he tabled the national budget of Tk 5.68 trillion on Jun 11.

 The budget also plans a price hike of other tobacco products like biri, zarda and gul.

Economists, journalists and anti-tobacco activists vented their frustration since the proposed budget for 2020-21 ignored such proposals and missed out on opportunities.

They said considering the factors such as increase in per capita income that the price hike in tobacco would result in reduction in the real price and increase in its use.

“Tobacco companies would profit tremendously since the supplementary duties on cigarettes have remained almost unchanged for the fourth consecutive years. The multi-tier pricing of cigarettes has been kept untouched, thus continuing to provide the consumers with the opportunity to switch to cheaper tiers and the companies with opportunities to evade taxes,” the campaigners said in the statement.

“This microscopic increase in prices of bidis and gul will have no impact on reducing the use of these products among the poor.”

 While the World Health Organization and public health experts have repeatedly warned that the use of tobacco products increases the spread of coronavirus infection, the proposed budget does not reflect any of those warnings, they added.

Economist Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, convener of the National Anti-Tobacco Platform, said, “We have been repeatedly demanding increased prices and taxes for tobacco products to safeguard people from the harms of it. Sadly, it is far from being implemented.”