bdnews24.com :
Rarely in a country these days do governments bring down tobacco prices, but Bangladesh must be an exception.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith brought cheers to the tobacco lobby on Thursday by lowering the prices of cigarettes.
Muhith in his proposed 2015-2016 budget on Thursday acknowledged the detrimental effects of “cigarette”, but lowered the prices of the top three categories of the cigarettes.
To everyone’s dismay, the finance minister did not utter a word on smokeless tobacco like Zarda that Bangladesh law defines as injurious as smoking.
He also lifted the 1 percent health surcharge imposed on tobacco last year.
The proposed budget has frustrated the anti-tobacco campaigners.
ABM Zubair, Executive Director of an anti-tobacco group Progya, in an immediate reaction told bdnews24.com: “We have no language to condemn this. We’ll formally come up with reactions later.”
Rarely in a country these days do governments bring down tobacco prices, but Bangladesh must be an exception.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith brought cheers to the tobacco lobby on Thursday by lowering the prices of cigarettes.
Muhith in his proposed 2015-2016 budget on Thursday acknowledged the detrimental effects of “cigarette”, but lowered the prices of the top three categories of the cigarettes.
To everyone’s dismay, the finance minister did not utter a word on smokeless tobacco like Zarda that Bangladesh law defines as injurious as smoking.
He also lifted the 1 percent health surcharge imposed on tobacco last year.
The proposed budget has frustrated the anti-tobacco campaigners.
ABM Zubair, Executive Director of an anti-tobacco group Progya, in an immediate reaction told bdnews24.com: “We have no language to condemn this. We’ll formally come up with reactions later.”
