Kazakhstan, Astana, September 12 / Trend, D. Mukhtarov /
Kazakhstan will increase the excise tax on alcohol and tobacco products, Minister of Economy and Budget Planning Erbolat Dosaev told journalists.
"We increase excises. We will increase them in the future. Specifically, today the excise tax on cigarettes in Kazakhstan is 1,550 tenge ($ 1 - 153 tenge) per thousand cigarettes. We are increasing it from 2014 to 3,000 tenge, which is by almost 100%. Gradual increases of excise taxes are planned; they will reach 45 euros per 1,000 cigarettes," Dosaev told.
Accordimg to him, excise on alcohol products will increase as well.
"If today, the excise tax per liter of alcohol is 2.5 euros, starting in 2014, it will be 5 euros, and from 2016 - 8 euros. The increase on excise tax is necessary, not so much from an economic view, but prices for cigarettes and alcohol are too cheap in our country," the Minister stressed.
He reminded that, according to the World Health Organization, Kazakhstan is one of the thirty leaders in alcohol consumption per person.
"Our indicator is 7-8 liters per Kazakh citizen! It's a scary figure! That is why, we need to increase excise taxes. I am far from the illusion that with the raise of cigarette prices, everybody will give up smoking, but, I think people will think whether it is worth to start smoking if a pack of cigarettes costs $5-10," Dosaev stressed.
The minister said that the government will tighten the rules on the sale of alcohol so that it was only sold in shopping malls and specialized stores. For violation of these requirements, responsibility will be tightened. We suggest the administrative fine to range from 200 to 500 MCI.