By Arsalan Ali Islamabad, May 11, (INP WealthPK): The government can achieve the twin objectives of taming the ballooning budget deficit and cutting tobacco consumption by hiking the tobacco tax, says Muhammad Ali Kemal, Chief of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the Planning Commission, while talking to WealthPk. According to Kemal, raising taxes will make tobacco less affordable and generate more revenue for the government which will help shrink the ballooning budget deficit. He said Pakistan had a highly lenient tobacco tax policy due to which the tobacco industry was creating an illusion of being the higher taxpayer in Pakistan. Kemal said there were 24 million active tobacco users in Pakistan and its consumption costs more than the revenue. He said smoking-related diseases and deaths cost the state kitty a total of PKR615 billion, while the total tax contributed by the industry was just PKR120 billion. The economic cost is more than five times the tax receipt, he added. Kemal said around 71 percent of the total smoking-induced cost came from cancer, cardiovascular, and respiratory disease. Males bear 77 percent of the cost, while the 35-64 age group bears 86 percent of the cost. He said the worst thing was that 60 percent of people start smoking during their teens and some as early as six years old. Cigarette affordability is among the reasons for starting smoking at an early age, he said. He said keeping in view the economic cost and disease burden resulting from tobacco consumption, the tax rate should be increased four to five times. Kemal added that tobacco tax had not been increased in the last three years, as the tobacco health levy bill was still pending. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco consumption kills eight million people around the globe annually. Dr. Ziauddin Islam, former technical head of Tobacco Control Cell (TCC) of the Ministry of Health, said taxes were the most cost-effective tobacco control measure. “Evidence suggests that higher cigarette taxes deter smoking initiation, reduce cigarette consumption, and even lead smokers to quit,” he said, adding that tobacco taxation did not interest the previous government. He suggested that the government should increase the Federal Excise Duty on tobacco products by 30 percent as per the WHO recommendation to generate additional revenue that could be used for the well-being of people. The following measures need to be taken to reduce tobacco consumption. First, the government should implement the Cigarettes (Printing of Warning) Ordinance, 1979 and the Prohibition of Smoking in Enclosed Places and Protection of Non-smokers Health Ordinance, 2002 to ensure a reduction in tobacco consumption, guaranteed child nutrition, and improved public health. Second, the government can reduce the manoeuvring space through a simplified single-tier taxation system that the industry exploits to sell cheaper cigarettes to lure millions of youths. Third, the media must play a significant role in highlighting the tobacco industry's deceit and policy violations. Finally, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) must increase the excise tax to meet the WHO’s recommended level of 70 percent of the retail price of a pack of cigarettes.