Ahead of the 2025-26 fiscal year, journalists on Tuesday demanded the unification of the lower and middle tiers of cigarettes, setting the minimum retail price at TK9 per stick.
They emphasized that increasing cigarette prices would help reduce smoking tendencies among young people, preventing approximately 1.8 million adolescents and youths from becoming new smokers.
Additionally, more than 2.4 million adults would be encouraged to quit smoking. In the long run, this initiative could prevent nearly 1.7 million premature deaths. Simultaneously, the government could increase revenue from cigarettes to 69,352 crore Taka, a 40% rise from the current earnings.
At present, the supplementary duty on cigarettes is set at 67%, which includes 15% VAT and a 1% health development surcharge.
These issues were raised at a journalist discussion session titled "Effective Taxation and Price Increase of Tobacco Products in the Upcoming 2025-26 Fiscal Budget to Protect Public Health," organized by Nari Maitree at the Bishwo Shahitto Kendro.
The meeting was presided over by Nari Maitree's Executive Director, Shaheen Akter Dolly, while the organization's Project Coordinator, Nasrin Akter, presented the keynote paper on Nari Maitree's activities.
Mohammad Hasan Shahriar, Head of Programs at PROGGA, attended the meeting as a resource person. In his speech, he highlighted that since the price gap between the lower and middle-tier cigarettes is minimal, smokers can easily switch between them. By merging these two tiers and increasing prices, low-income individuals and young people would be discouraged from smoking.
Among the special guests present were Sohrab Hasan, Joint Editor of Prothom Alo; Morshed Noman, Acting Editor of Bangladesh First; Md. Zahidul Islam, News Editor of Bangladesh Television; CNE Channel I Mir Masrur Zaman; Julhas Alam, Dhaka Bureau Chief of the New York-based international news agency Associated Press (AP); Shahnaz Poly, Joint Convener of Mothers’ Forum Against Tobacco and a Management Committee Member of the National Press Club; Dr. Khaleda Islam, Convener of the teachers forum against tobacco and Director of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka; and Shibani Bhattacharya, former Additional Secretary and Convener of Mothers’ Forum Against Tobacco.
In their speeches, journalists called for effective tobacco control measures, particularly through price hikes for lower and middle-tier cigarettes to reduce smoking rates.
They noted that the minimal price difference between these tiers allows smokers to easily switch, making it necessary to unify them and increase prices. As part of the proposed budget for the 2025-26 fiscal year, journalists recommended raising the retail price of lower and middle-tier cigarettes to 90 Taka per 10 sticks. Additionally, they proposed setting the price of high-tier cigarettes at 140 Taka and premium-tier cigarettes at 190 Taka. Furthermore, they suggested setting the minimum retail price of bidi at 1 Taka per stick.
The discussion session was also attended by members of the Youth Forum Against Tobacco, Girls’ Guide, and various media representatives.