26 MPs Issue DO Letters Urging Increased Taxes on Tobacco Products

Dhaka, Bangladesh || Thursday, 11 June 2026 || 28 Jyoishtho 1433

HEADLINE:

Tobacco Products to Become More Affordable, Revenue Opportunity Lost Measles deaths trigger legal action against Yunus, Nur Jahan, 3 others Basketball Federation officials visit world-class court at Bashundhara Sports City Ramisa rape-murder: Shafiqur urges lawyers not to defend accused Trump says Iran talks moving fast despite threat to widen war PM advises standing beside puddle instead of going abroad to learn mosquito eradication Remittance crosses $3b mark for sixth time

Remittance crosses $3b mark for sixth time

Bangladesh received $3.42 billion in remittances in May, marking

Heartbreaking Letter from Dr. Samina Azam on Losing Her Father, Freedom Fighter Engineer Mosharraf Hossain

What I am writing is not meant to blame

Capital crime under fire as DMP tightens net

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has intensified a citywide

Social media is pushing children and adolescents toward ruin

Our children and adolescents are passing through a terrifying

26 MPs Issue DO Letters Urging Increased Taxes on Tobacco Products

Staff Correspondent

Published : Sunday, 24 May, 2026 at 7:10 PM, Count : 169

26 MPs Issue DO Letters Urging Increased Taxes on Tobacco Products

To protect public health, 26 Members of Parliament (MPs) have issued Demi-Official (DO) letters to the Finance Minister, recommending effective tax and price hikes on all tobacco products, including cigarettes, in the upcoming national budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. This information has been confirmed by relevant official sources.

On Sunday (24 May), a delegation of MPs, comprising Mst. Farida Yasmin, Sunsila Jabrin, Ferdousi Ahmed, Arifa Sultana, and Newaz Halima Arly, met with Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury on behalf of their colleagues to hand over the DO letters signed by the 26 parliamentarians.

In the DO letters, the MPs recommended merging the low and medium tiers of cigarettes, proposing a retail price of BDT 100 per 10-stick pack. They also recommended setting the price for the high tier at BDT 140 and the premium tier at BDT 200 per 10-stick pack, alongside introducing a specific tax of BDT 4 per 10 sticks across all cigarette tiers. Furthermore, they suggested setting the retail price of 25-stick non-filtered biris at BDT 30, 10 grams of jarda (smokeless tobacco) at BDT 60, and 10 grams of gul (powdered tobacco) at BDT 35.

The DO letters highlighted that if these recommendations are implemented, the government could expect to generate revenue of approximately BDT 85,000 crore solely from the cigarette sector. Concurrently, it would encourage around 500,000 adults to quit smoking and discourage nearly 372,000 youths from initiating the habit. In short, this move would boost state revenue while safeguarding public health, making it a clear win-win scenario for both the government and the public.

« Previous