The Maldives will raise the import duty on tobacco products from MVR3 ($0.19) to MVR8 from November onward, reports The Edition.
In a post on social media platform X, President Mohamed Muizzu announced several actions to discourage the use of tobacco products. In addition to raising import duties, the government will increase its ad valorem take from tobacco products by 50 percent and ban smoking in public places.
Earlier this week, the president announced that a ban on the import, sale, distribution, advertising and use of vapes would take effect in November.