A leading policy think tank has called for a significant overhaul of tobacco taxation in the upcoming national budget, arguing that higher prices and simplified tax structures could both reduce smoking and boost government revenues.
The recommendations come amid growing concern over the health and economic costs of tobacco use, with experts urging the government to adopt stronger fiscal and regulatory measures to discourage consumption.
The Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) proposed a set of measures for the FY 2026-27 national budget at a press conference titled "Pre-Budget Press Conference for FY 2026-27: Tobacco Tax Policy for Protecting Health & Raising Revenue" at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Sunday.
The proposal suggests merging the existing low and medium cigarette price tiers and setting a unified minimum retail price of BDT 100 per 10-stick pack. It also calls for a uniform specific excise tax of BDT 4 per 10-stick pack across all cigarette tiers.
The recommendations were jointly developed by Economics for Health, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) at the University of Dhaka, as part of broader efforts to strengthen tobacco control and improve domestic resource mobilisation.
Keynote speaker Dr Shafiun N. Shimul, Professor and Director of IHE, said effective implementation of the proposed measures could encourage around 500,000 adults to quit smoking and prevent more than 372,000 young people from initiating tobacco use.
In the long term, the reforms could avert approximately 185,408 premature deaths among adults and 185,335 among youth, while reducing overall tobacco use prevalence by about 0.5 percentage points. The proposal is also expected to generate more than Tk 850 billion in revenue, an increase of Tk 440 billion compared with the previous fiscal year.
Prof. Dr Syed Md Akram Hussain, Chairman of the Department of Clinical Oncology, said the economic burden of tobacco-related non-communicable diseases far outweighs the revenue earned from tobacco taxes, noting that tobacco harms multiple vital organs. He added that tobacco taxes have not kept pace with rising incomes and inflation.
PPRC Executive Chairman Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman highlighted taxation and legislation as key tools for tobacco control.
He said the notion that higher prices reduce revenue is not supported by evidence; rather, increased prices discourage adolescents from taking up smoking.
He also expressed concern over the removal of the ban on e-cigarettes in the recently passed tobacco control ordinance, warning that the decision sends a misleading signal, particularly to young people vulnerable to misinformation.
He urged the government to take a more proactive role in addressing emerging tobacco-related risks.
Rahman further stressed the importance of public awareness, including strengthening school health curricula to educate young people about the dangers of tobacco use.
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