Anti-tobacco advocacy groups have criticized the proposed national budget for fiscal year 2026-27, saying it fails to introduce meaningful tobacco tax reforms and could make tobacco products more affordable in real terms, particularly for young people and low-income consumers.
The reaction came from PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) following Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury’s budget speech on Thursday.
In the proposed budget, the minimum retail price of 10 sticks of low-tier cigarettes has been set at Tk62, up from the current Tk60. Prices for medium-tier cigarettes would rise from Tk80 to Tk92, while high-tier cigarettes would increase from Tk140 to Tk160 per pack. Premium or ultra-high-tier cigarettes would see the largest increase, rising from Tk185 to Tk210 per pack of 10 sticks.
Presenting the proposal, the finance minister said the tobacco tax measures were designed to “optimally balance” revenue generation and health concerns.
However, PROGGA and ATMA argued that the increase in low-tier cigarette prices is too small to reduce consumption. They noted that the proposed Tk2 increase represents a 3.33% rise, significantly lower than the approximately 10.27% growth in per capita income, which would make cigarettes relatively more affordable over time.
The organizations warned that declining real prices could encourage tobacco use among youth and lower-income groups. They pointed out that low-tier cigarette brands account for roughly 75% of Bangladesh’s cigarette market.
The groups also said the proposed price increases for medium, high, and premium-tier cigarettes remain modest compared to recent increases in the prices of essential commodities. Without structural reform of the tobacco tax system, they argued, tobacco companies would capture most of the additional revenue generated through higher prices.
According to the organizations, the budget misses an opportunity to implement key reforms, including reducing the number of cigarette price tiers and introducing a specific excise tax system.
PROGGA and ATMA proposed merging the low- and medium-tier cigarette categories and setting the retail price of 10 sticks at Tk100. They also recommended imposing a specific tax of Tk4 per 10 sticks in addition to the existing 67% supplementary duty.
The organizations claimed that implementing these measures, alongside higher prices for all tobacco products, could generate an additional Tk44,000 crore in government revenue and prevent approximately 400,000 premature deaths.
The proposed budget leaves prices and tax rates for bidis, jarda, and gul unchanged. According to the groups, this will make these products more affordable in real terms and increase health risks, particularly among poorer populations and women.
The budget also proposes setting the retail price of 10 grams of nicotine pouches at Tk500 and 10 sticks of heated tobacco products at Tk210, subject to supplementary duties of 40% and 67%, respectively. While the Ministry of Health had earlier proposed banning such emerging tobacco products, the measure was not included in the recently amended tobacco control law.
The proposed budget further includes a 350% supplementary duty on the import of nicotine granules and nicotine pouches and recommends introducing a track-and-trace system to monitor tobacco production and supply chains.
ABM Zubair, executive director of PROGGA, said the proposed budget, if passed without changes, would make tobacco products more affordable and encourage tobacco use among young people and low-income groups, leading to higher rates of tobacco-related diseases and deaths.
According to anti-tobacco advocates, 35.3% of Bangladeshi adults use tobacco products. Tobacco-related illnesses claim around 200,000 lives annually and impose an estimated economic burden of nearly Tk87,000 crore on the country each year.
