PHOTO
14 March 2016
JEDDAH: Prices of cigarettes have shot up by 20 percent in the Kingdom as against the speculated 100 percent increase that had reportedly led to hoarding by dealers and shopkeepers in some cities.
Almost all the brands were not available in the market on Saturday, but they reappeared on Sunday with revised prices.
An Indian worker at a Jeddah grocery told Arab News that he was unable to sell some brands like Marlboro and LM on Saturday as they were not available in the local market. However, all the supermarkets and groceries started selling them at the new rates.
Ahmed Hussein, a Saudi working for a private company, said Marlboro cost SR10, but its price is SR12 now. "I think it is time to give up smoking. Cheaper cigarettes are of a poor quality."
According to a news agency report, three Riyadh shops said they had no cigarettes for sale and social media users reported the same in Jeddah on Saturday and Sunday. Some suggested retailers were holding back stocks until the government announced higher cigarette prices.
A local news website quoted the Saudi Customs Authority as saying on Saturday that tobacco prices had doubled, but there was no notice of that on the government body's website, or that of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
An executive at a tobacco distribution company was quoted as saying by a news agency that Saudi Customs had doubled its import fee for a consignment that he tried to bring into the country on Sunday.
In Dammam, at least one shop was already selling packets of Philip Morris-branded cigarettes for SR15 instead of the SR10 previously charged, a smoker there told a news agency.
The Finance Ministry said in the country's 2016 budget statement in December that it would apply "additional fees on harmful goods such as tobacco, soft drinks and the like," but gave no date for the increased prices.
Saudi Arabia wants to reduce the bill for state-subsidized healthcare for its citizens, who suffer globally high rates of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes. Its budget strained by low oil prices, the government is also trying to boost its non-oil revenues.
Over SR50 million goes up in smoke daily because of addiction to cigarettes in Saudi Arabia, let alone the thousands of deaths that occur every year due to smoking, the head of the anti-tobacco and anti-drugs organization had said.
JEDDAH: Prices of cigarettes have shot up by 20 percent in the Kingdom as against the speculated 100 percent increase that had reportedly led to hoarding by dealers and shopkeepers in some cities.
Almost all the brands were not available in the market on Saturday, but they reappeared on Sunday with revised prices.
An Indian worker at a Jeddah grocery told Arab News that he was unable to sell some brands like Marlboro and LM on Saturday as they were not available in the local market. However, all the supermarkets and groceries started selling them at the new rates.
Ahmed Hussein, a Saudi working for a private company, said Marlboro cost SR10, but its price is SR12 now. "I think it is time to give up smoking. Cheaper cigarettes are of a poor quality."
According to a news agency report, three Riyadh shops said they had no cigarettes for sale and social media users reported the same in Jeddah on Saturday and Sunday. Some suggested retailers were holding back stocks until the government announced higher cigarette prices.
A local news website quoted the Saudi Customs Authority as saying on Saturday that tobacco prices had doubled, but there was no notice of that on the government body's website, or that of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
An executive at a tobacco distribution company was quoted as saying by a news agency that Saudi Customs had doubled its import fee for a consignment that he tried to bring into the country on Sunday.
In Dammam, at least one shop was already selling packets of Philip Morris-branded cigarettes for SR15 instead of the SR10 previously charged, a smoker there told a news agency.
The Finance Ministry said in the country's 2016 budget statement in December that it would apply "additional fees on harmful goods such as tobacco, soft drinks and the like," but gave no date for the increased prices.
Saudi Arabia wants to reduce the bill for state-subsidized healthcare for its citizens, who suffer globally high rates of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes. Its budget strained by low oil prices, the government is also trying to boost its non-oil revenues.
Over SR50 million goes up in smoke daily because of addiction to cigarettes in Saudi Arabia, let alone the thousands of deaths that occur every year due to smoking, the head of the anti-tobacco and anti-drugs organization had said.
© Arab News 2016
