Pakistan Urged to Stick with Tax Hike

The government of Pakistan should stick with its decision to significantly increase the federal excise duty on cigarettes, according to Sana Ullah Ghumman, general secretary and director operations of Pakistan National Heart Association reports Business Recorder.

Ghumman suggested that multinational tobacco companies may reduce production after the government announced this tax hike in the mini budget presented earlier this year. The proposed tax increase would force the Pakistani smokers to spend around an average of 10 percent of their monthly incomes on cigarettes, according to estimates.

The increase is expected to generate an additional PKR60 billion ($212.57 million) in revenue for Pakistan’s treasury.

Citing a report by Our World in Data showing that smoking causes millions of premature deaths every year, Ghumman argued that higher taxes on tobacco products are the only solution to protect youth from the harmful effects of smoking.