Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam on Wednesday stressed the need for innovative social mobilization to prevent youth from taking up smoking, saying that raising tobacco prices alone is not enough to curb tobacco use.
He made this statement while addressing a workshop organized by the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) and the Development Organization of the Rural Poor (DORP) on increasing tobacco taxes in the 2025-26 fiscal budget held at the ERF Auditorium on Wednesday.
Presenting the keynote paper, DORP Deputy Director Mohammad Zobair Hasan proposed setting a minimum price of Tk9 per cigarette stick to discourage smoking among lower- and middle-income groups.
He pointed out that over the past three fiscal years, the multi-tiered ad valorem tax system has resulted in only a 7.3% increase in cigarette prices—an insignificant rise compared to the surging costs of essential goods.
Consequently, cigarette sales have grown by an average of 4% per year, he said
The presentation recommended merging the lower and middle tiers into a new category with a minimum cigarette price of Tk9 per stick in the 2025-26 fiscal year.
