Egypt Makes Smoking More Costly - And Then Blames Retailers

(Bloomberg) -- Egypt raised the official price for cigarettes, saying the change was necessary after it noticed some vendors were ignoring earlier decrees and overcharging, a sensitive issue in a country where half of all men smoke.

The revision, which upped a pack of Marlboro from 38 Egyptian pounds ($2.4) to 40 pounds, for example, is aimed at protecting consumers from unscrupulous merchants, the tax authority said. Cleopatra cigarettes, a staple for lower-income Egyptians, saw their prices rise by as much as 16% to 18 pounds.

Officials have routinely said they would get tough with shops selling cigarettes for more than the official price. Still, the street kiosks where most Egyptians buy their smokes routinely charge more than other retail outlets.

In 2015, the World Health Organization said the proportion of Egyptian men over 15 who smoked could rise to 63% in a decade, higher than projections for most countries in the region.

The government has raised cigarette prices several times over the past few years, compounding the angst of a nation where many are struggling with the after-effects of the 2016 decision to revive the economy by devaluing the currency.

To contact the reporter on this story: Abdel Latif Wahba in Cairo at alatifwahba@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Michael Gunn at mgunn14@bloomberg.net, Tarek El-Tablawy, Mark Williams

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