Experts on Sunday urged the government to reduce the number of cigarette price tiers, introduce a specific tax system and hike the prices of all tobacco products in the upcoming 2026-27 national budget.
They made the suggestions during a journalists' workshop titled "Tobacco Tax and Price Measures: Budget 2026-27" held at the BMA Bhaban in the capital.
Organized jointly by research and advocacy organization PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), the workshop was attended by 28 journalists from different print, television and online media outlets.
During the workshop, the experts said that users of low and medium tier cigarettes, mostly the poor and working class, constitute the majority of total cigarette smokers. Merging the low and medium tiers into a single tier with a price hike would effectively encourage the low income demographic to quit and discourage youth from getting hooked on tobacco addiction.
The proposals presented during the workshop for the FY 2026-27 national budget are as follows: The low and medium tier should be merged into one, and the price for TK10 sticks of the merged tier should be set at TK 100. The retail price of high-tier cigarettes should be increased to TK 150 from existing TK 140 for 10 sticks. The prices for 10 sticks of premium cigarettes should be raised to TK 200 from existing TK 185. The supplementary duty (SD) on all cigarette tiers should remain at the existing 67 percent. Besides, the government should introduce TK 4 per 10 sticks as a specific tax.
The budget proposals also suggest retaining 15 percent VAT on the retail prices of tobacco products and continuing the existing 1 percent health development surcharge (HDS).
In support of the proposals, speakers informed that budget proposals for FY 2026-27 placed by anti-tobacco organizations, if realized, can generate more than TK 85 thousand crore in tobacco tax revenue, representing an additional TK 44 thousand crore compared with the current fiscal year.
Implementation of such proposals, in the long run, will also help prevent the premature deaths of 370,000 Bangladeshis, including nearly 185,000 youths. It would also encourage nearly 500,000 adults to abstain from smoking and discourage around 372,000 youths from lighting up.
The discussants in the workshop include Mr. Sazzadur Rahman, Deputy Editor, The Business Standard; Mr. Mortuza Haider Liton, Convener, ATMA; Ms. Nadira Kiron and Mr. Mizan Chowdhury, both Co-convener, ATMA; Mr. Hasan Shahrear , Head of Programs, PROGGA and ABM Zubair, Executive Director, PROGGA.