Dhaka, June 2 -- As the prices of and taxes on all tiers of cigarettes in the proposed 2025-26 FY budget have been kept unchanged, it will deprive the government of additional revenue worth at least BDT 20,000 crore and encourage the youth to 'light up', according to anti-tobacco activists.

They have long been suggesting that the government must raise the prices of all tiers of cigarettes and particularly, must merge the low and medium tiers of cigarettes, constituting 80 percent of current cigarette market in Bangladesh, into a new tier with the minimum retail price (MRP) of TK 90 for 10 sticks.

The proposed budget has kept the prices of bidi unchanged for the 6th consecutive time. The supplementary duty on bidi has also remained the s...