On Thursday, Kamal presented the budget for the new fiscal year in parliament, where he mentioned the goal of reducing the number of smokers. However, two non-governmental organisations working to discourage smoking said that the price of cigarettes has not increased significantly in comparison to the rising prices of daily essentials in the country. Kamal has indirectly encouraged smoking by keeping the price relatively low, according to them. In his budget speech, Kamal proposed to increase the prices of low-tier cigarettes to Tk 45 per pack and supplementary duty to 58 percent.

Source: bd News24 June 01, 2023 13:07 UTC