Anti-tobacco campaigners yesterday said they find no government measure of imposing tax on smokeless tobacco products in the proposed budget for the 2015–16 fiscal year.
During a discussion styled ‘Post Budget Discussion on Tobacco Tax Issue’ jointly organised by Progga, Anti Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA), and Human Development Research Centre (HDRC), Prof Dr Abul Barkat said the finance minister did not utter a word on smokeless tobacco products like Zarda, which is defined as ‘injurious to health’ by Bangladesh law.
Dr Abul Barkat said faulty taxation has actually dropped tobacco prices in Bangladesh ‘steadily’ since 2001, encouraging new users. “The real prices of tobacco had, indeed, fallen in Bangladesh as the different taxes were levied on different price slabs and were never based on inflation,” he said.
He explained that the relationship between prices, income and cigarette consumption in Bangladesh is clearer when one considers the affordability of cigarettes, measured by the ratio of average cigarette pack price to per capita income.