Keeping the screws on smokers

Cigarettes have become more affordable in Sri Lanka during the past 10 years.

A recent story in the Daily Mirror newspaper said that a study conducted on behalf of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA) by Verité Research had shown that in 2010, cigarettes were relatively cheaper than they were in 2000.

In fact, the affordability of cigarettes in the country was now at a record high.

The study’s authors derived a benchmark from the historical data and used it to demonstrate how cigarette taxation might be increased to keep prices in line with rising wages.

They said that according to the benchmark, the prices of cigarettes in 2010 should have been 50 per cent higher than they were.