Dhaka
Bangladesh has improved its rankings in an international cigarette tax index, attaining a position slightly higher than the global average.
Bangladesh attained an overall score of 2.38 out of 5 possible points, which is slightly higher than the global average (2.07), said the first edition of the International Cigarette Tax Scorecard released by US-based research initiative Tobacconomics. The Tobacconomics Scorecard assesses countries’ cigarette tax policies based on international best practices using data from the World Health Organization from 2014-2018. Nearly half the countries scored less than two out of the five-point maximum, says a press statement.
Bangladesh had significantly improved its score on cigarette taxation policy from 0.87 in 2014 to 2.38 in 2018, but improvements are needed in the tax structure and prices of cigarettes, the index said.—Dhaka Tribune
