Gov’t announces official cigarette prices
Following an increase in cigarette taxes announced July 2, Egypt’s government released new official prices for cigarettes on Tuesday.
The new prices are as follows, although vendors often sell at above official rates:
• LE20 per pack for high-end international brands: Marlboro, Merit, Kent, Dunhill, Camel and Davidoff.
• LE14 per pack for L&M, Rothmans, Gauloises and Winston brand cigarettes.
• LE12 per pack for Next brand.
• LE11 per pack for Viceroy brand.
• LE8 per hard-pack of Cleopatra White, Red, Green and Silver.
• LE7.5 per soft-pack of Cleopatra Golden and Florida brand.
• LE.7.5 per hard-pack of Light, Florida, Mundial, Belmont, Boston, Hollywood and Capital.
• LE7 per 10-cigarette half-pack of Rothmans
The government is relying on a slew of tax increases to allow it to increase spending while reducing the budget deficit. Measures to tax cigarettes are also usually intended as a public health measure. According to the World Health Organization, a 2010 cigarette tax increase in Egypt that raised prices by around 44 percent reduced sales by 14 percent within two years, and raised revenue by 151 percent, from LE7 billion to LE17.6 billion.
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