“To rid the country of tobacco, there is no alternative to further effective tobacco taxation. All government and non-government stakeholders must come together to do so.”- said the Honorable Deputy Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament- Fazle Rabbi Miah.
He said this on Saturday at a webinar titled ‘Tobacco Taxation: Thoughts for Budget 2021-22’ while speaking as the Chief Guest. Former Health Minister and honorable MP from Satkhira 03 constiuency- Professor Ruhal Haque,MP was present as the Special Guest.
Bangabandhu Chair Professor of Dhaka University and former Governor of Bangladesh Bank- Dr. Atiur Rahman presented the keynote paper.
Key officials from National Board of Revenue and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare participated in the discussion.
Representatives from various civil society organizations involved in anti-tobacco campaigns were also present.
In the keynote, Dr. Atiur Rahman said that to realize the Prime Minister’s goal of riding Bangladesh of tobacco by 2040, it is now high time to ensure further effective tobacco taxation. For the fiscal year 2021-22, he proposed to increase the declared retail price of cigarette, bidi, gul and jarda and impose specific supplementary duties on all of them.
He further added that if these proposals are realized not only millions of people will be saved from tobacco, but also the government may earn up to 12 percent additional revenue.
Professor Ruhal Haque, MP said that without significantly increasing tax on tobacco the national target of controlling tobacco consumption cannot be fulfilled.
At the same time social awareness about the issue must also be enhanced. Discussants also talked about band role fraud, increasing efficiency of National Board of Revenue to impose tobacco taxes, increasing taxes on income from tobacco consumption and marketing etc.
