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The proposed budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 has increased the price of low-end cigarettes very slightly, and the price and tax rate of bidi, gul and zarda have been kept unchanged. If inflation and per capita income are taken into account, the actual price of these tobacco products will decrease.

No reforms have been made in the tax structure, including reducing the number of price levels of cigarettes, introducing specific duties. If the proposed budget is passed, tobacco use, tobacco-related illnesses and deaths will increase, and the government will lose the opportunity to increase revenue, according to research and advocacy organizations Pragya (Knowledge for Progress) and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (Atma).

The proposed budget has increased the price of a pack of ten cigarettes at the lower end by Tk 2 to Tk 62. If the budget is implemented, the price of cigarettes at this level will increase by only 3.33 percent, which is much less than the 10.27 percent increase in per capita income. As a result, the actual price of low-end cigarettes will decrease significantly and the consumption of low-end cigarettes among the young and low-income population will increase at an alarming rate.

The proposed budget has increased the price of 10 cigarettes per pack of medium-level cigarettes from 80 taka to 92 taka (15 percent), high-level cigarettes from 140 taka to 160 taka (14.29 percent), and premium or ultra-high-level cigarettes from 185 taka to 210 taka (13.51 percent). This price increase is very small compared to the price increase of daily necessities.

According to Pragya-Atma , as per the proposal of the anti-tobacco activists, by combining the low and middle tiers of cigarettes, setting the retail price at 100 taka per 10 packs, introducing a specific tax system, i.e. imposing a specific tax of 4 taka per 10 packs in addition to the existing 67 percent supplementary duty, and increasing the prices of all types of tobacco products, it will be possible to prevent about 4 lakh premature deaths in the long term, in addition to generating additional revenue of about 44 thousand crore taka compared to the current fiscal year.

The proposed budget has kept the prices and tax rates of bidis, jorda and gul, which are very harmful to health, unchanged. As a result, these products will become cheaper and more accessible, and the health risks of women and the poor will increase. The budget has proposed to fix the retail price of ten grams of nicotine pouches at Tk 500 and 40 percent supplementary duty, and the retail price of ten sticks of heated tobacco at Tk 210 and 67 percent supplementary duty.

Reacting to the proposed budget, Pragya ( Knowledge for Progress) Executive Director ABM Zubair said, “ If the proposed budget is passed, tobacco products will become cheaper and more accessible.