The Minister Rajitha Senaratne. said in a function held in Colombo to handover appointments of 1,034 interns to rural hospitals that the government earns Rs. 187 billion of revenue from tobacco and alcohol taxes, but Rs. 200 billion is needed to treat those suffering from ailments arising out of the use of tobacco and alcohol.
A cabinet paper will be submitted next week to raise from the present 72 per cent, to 98 pc, the taxes being levied from cigarette companies. This cabinet paper will be jointly submitted by the President and Rajitha Senaratne, he said. Purpose of this cabinet paper is to discourage smoking, a main contributor to non-communicable diseases, said Senaratne.
The government will take steps to completely stop the cultivation of tobacco locally by 2020 and will introduce a cigarette packet which mentions the brand only, he added. Increase on TAX will automatically end up in increase of prices of Cigarette.
