Cigarette prices to rise in Cambodia

Cigarette prices in Cambodia are expected to increase from about $0.58 to about $0.64 a pack from July when taxes are due to rise, according to a story in The Phnom Penh Post.

Taxes currently account for 20 percent of the retail price of a pack of cigarettes, but that is set to rise to 30 percent.

An announcement about the increase was made on Friday during an Asean (Association of Southeast Asia Nations) Tobacco Taxation and Illicit Trade workshop held at the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Regional Office in Manila.

Heng Sothy, deputy chief of the Audit Bureau within the Department of Taxation, was quoted as saying that the department had decided to increase the tax to promote people’s health.

But one anti-tobacco group said the increase would not be enough to encourage smokers to quit or to stop others taking up the habit.