Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) has raised demands for an effective hike in tobacco products' prices and taxes to help the government tackle the fiscal shortfall and simultaneously, safeguard public health.
The organization's latest push for such a hike came in a pre-budget meeting for FY 2024-25 held at the conference room of the National Revenue Board (NBR) on Thursday, according to a press release.
Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem, chairman, NBR presided over the meeting.
In support of its demand, ATMA informed that budget proposals placed by anti-tobacco activists, if realized, can help the government raise a staggering Tk9,400 crore in additional revenue, which will come in handy to deal with the ongoing economic crisis.
Implementation of such proposals, in the long run, will also help prevent the premature deaths of 1.1 million Bangladeshis, including nearly half a million youths.
The prices of tobacco products in Bangladesh are considerably low.
Furthermore, compared to the prices of essential commodities, it is evident that these deadly products are getting even cheaper.
Such growing affordability is particularly alluring for the youth and the poor which is undoubtedly an ominous sign for our public health.
An analysis of the average retail prices of essential commodities in seven metropolitan cities of the country (Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal and Rangpur) between July 4, 2021 and July 4, 2023, as reported by the Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM), shows that price of loose sugar has seen a 89% hike in this time period, the hike is 87% for potatoes, 75% for loose flour, 47% for pangash fish, 43% for eggs, 34% for soybean oil, 30% for powdered milk, and 27% for broiler chicken.
However, during this same timeframe, the hike in the prices of different tiers of cigarettes ranged between 6-15% only.
The NBR chairman said at the pre-budget meeting: “We will increase the prices of tobacco products in the upcoming budget for FY 2024-25. We are also considering the replacement of the current ad valorem tobacco tax structure with a specific tax system.”
During the pre-budget meeting, ATMA urged policymakers to hike the retail price of low-tier cigarettes to Tk60 for 10 sticks, followed by a 63% supplementary duty (SD). The prices of 10 sticks should be set at Tk75, 125 and 165 for medium, high and premium tiers respectively. The prices should be followed by a 65% SD.
As per the proposal presented by ATMA, for non-filtered bidi, the retail price should be Tk25 for 25 sticks. In the case of filtered bidi, the retail price for 20 sticks should be set at Tk20. Both prices should be followed by a 45% SD.
Regarding smokeless tobacco, the retail price for 10 grams of jarda and gul should be Tk55 and Tk30, followed by 60% SD. The budget proposals also suggest retaining 15% VAT on the retail prices of tobacco products and continuing the existing 1% health development surcharge (HDS).
It should be noted that 37.8 million adults in Bangladesh use tobacco products (smoked and smokeless). Tobacco claims 161,000 lives every year in Bangladesh.
In 2017-18, the toll of tobacco use in the national economy (due to medical expenses and loss of productivity) stood at Tk30,560 crore.
