Price hikes in Egypt

Eastern Co. has raised cigarette prices by 10-15 percent, reports The Ahram. The increase will help pay for the country’s new national health insurance.
The company’s bestselling brand, Cleopatra, will be sold at EGP17 instead of EGPT15.5.
It remains unclear whether the new increase will also apply to cigarettes produced by foreign-owned companies, such as BAT-Egypt and Philip Morris International, both of which use Eastern Co. factories to manufacture locally sold products.
Eastern Company supplies about 70 percent of Egypt’s cigarette market, which is estimated at about 83 billion cigarettes a year.
In recent years, Egyptian smokers have faced multiple price hikes due new taxes and a foreign currency shortage, which has made raw materials for cigarettes, including tobacco, more expensive.
Most raw materials, including tobacco, are imported into Egypt.