Anti-tobacco activists and economists have called for a comprehensive reform of the tobacco tax structure in the final budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year to safeguard public health and boost government revenue.
During a post-budget press conference held on Thursday at the Zahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall of the National Press Club, speakers urged the government to reduce the number of cigarette price tiers, introduce a specific excise tax system, and effectively increase the prices of all tobacco products.
The event was jointly organised by PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) and the Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA).
Citing provisional data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the organisations noted that while national per capita income rose by 10.27 per cent between 2025 and 2026, and essential commodity prices surged by 30 to 89 per cent, the price of low-tier cigarettes- which constitute 75 per cent of the market- increased by a mere 3.33 per cent, or just Tk0.20 per stick.
In contrast, prices for medium, high, and premium-tier cigarettes were raised by 15 per cent, 14.29 per cent, and 13.51 per cent, respectively. However, speakers warned that because the government only increased base prices without raising tax rates, tobacco companies would pocket a significant portion of the additional revenue.
For instance, a tobacco company stands to earn an extra Tk4.25 in profit per pack from the Tk25 price hike in the premium tier.
Experts also criticised the decision to leave taxes on bidi, jarda, and gul unchanged and expressed concern over the inclusion of nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products in the tax net, arguing this effectively legalises these emerging public health threats.
Professor Dr Rumana Huque of the Department of Economics at the University of Dhaka suggested merging the low and medium-tier cigarette categories.
“If the retail price is set at Tk100 per 10-stick pack, and a specific excise tax of Tk4 per pack is imposed across all tiers in addition to the existing tax structure, government revenue will increase and public health will be better protected,” she said.
Economic Reporters’ Forum President Doulot Akter Mala added, “For the sake of public health, we must hike the prices of all kinds of tobacco products and push them out of the purchasing capacity of the youth and low-income demographic.”
The advocates recommended a uniform price and tax rate for filtered and non-filtered bidi, proposing a retail price of Tk30 for 20 sticks followed by a 50 per cent supplementary duty (SD).
For smokeless tobacco, they suggested raising the price of 10 grams of jarda to Tk60 and gul to Tk30, with a 60 per cent SD. They also recommended retaining the 15 per cent VAT and the existing 1 per cent health development surcharge (HDS).
If these proposals are implemented, it is estimated that smoking prevalence would decline, nearly 400,000 premature deaths could be prevented in the long term, and the government could generate an additional Tk44,000 crore in revenue.
Furthermore, the measures would encourage roughly 500,000 adults to quit and discourage 372,000 youths from starting to smoke.
The event featured insights from Md Hasan Shahriar, Head of Programs at PROGGA, and was moderated by Nadira Kiron, Co-convener of ATMA.
Other participants included Md Monir Hossain Liton, Head of Online (Bangla) at The Daily Times of Bangladesh; Ayesha Suhaima Rab, Program Associate at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD); Mortuza Haider Liton, Convener of ATMA; Mizan Chowdhury, Co-convener of ATMA; and ABM Zubair, Executive Director of PROGGA.
