The government has raised taxes on all tobacco products by 15 per cent.
This means that a regular pack of 20 Marlboro cigarettes will now cost S$15.52.
Previously, the same pack cost S$14.
The move has naturally angered the 550,000 smoking population in Singapore, especially since alternatives such as vaping have been banned.
But what’s got them even more hot and bothered is the profiteering behaviour of some merchants.
Some stores have apparently jacked up the price of a similar pack of Marlboro cigarettes to S$17.10 – a 22 percent increase.
A pack of Benson and Hedges cigarettes, which used to cost around S$14.80, has seen its price shoot up to S$19.80, which is close to a 35 percent increase.
The usual reasons have been given for the extraordinarily steep increase in price, ranging from inflation to the impact of GST increase on the supply chain.
