DIE-HARD Egyptian smokers were angry Friday at the Government for increasing the prices of cigarettes. They regarded the new tax imposed on cigarettes as a sign the Government is in deep financial trouble. On Thursday, the Government of Ahmed Nazif imposed a new tax on tobacco products raising cigarette prices by as much as 40 per cent, hoping that the increase would generate about $345 millionto fund health and social service projects. The new tax has also sent the price of shisha tobacco soaring by about 100 per cent. "The increase shows that the Government now badly needs money to finance these projects," Hamada Naguib, an inveterate smoker, told The Gazette while he was buying a pack of the popular Cleopatra cigarettes. The Government-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) has said that Egypt has 13 million smokers, whoconsume 80 billion cigarettes a year and spend more than LE8 billion ($1.4 billion) on tobacco per annum. "Every smoker is angry," says Haj Hassan Amin, who sells cigarettes and waterpipe tobacco from a tiny street stall in the Cairo working class neighbourhood of Hadayek el-Qubba. "Sales are down, people can't afford such prices," says Haj Amin as a small crowd gathered around him, expressing outrage over the tax and lashing out at the Government. Ahmed el-Nadi, an employee who was about to catch his train to the coastal city of Alexandria, warned that there would be an "explosion" if the Government continued to raise prices. At the café houses, which have become a central feature of Cairo, the shisha-loving customers have joined forces in criticising the new tax, saying that the price of one bowl of apple or honey-scented tobacco has almost doubled over night. "The Government should solve the problems of electricity, drinking water and unemployment. This new tax should be last on its list," griped Mohamed Hussein, 45, an Oil Ministry employee who said he smokes shisha, the famous Egyptian smoking device, six times a day. "The shisha workers may lose their jobs because the number of customers will decrease as they cannot afford the new prices," a café shop owner said. CAPMAS has recently said that Egypt has 13 million smokers, who consume 80 billion cigarettes a year and spend more than LE8 billion ($1.4 billion) on tobacco per annum. Although the Government has imposed a total ban on tobacco advertising and launched a media campaign to make people more aware about the dangers of smoking, the number of smokers is on the rise in Egypt. Many people see smoking as relief from the daily grind in a country with an average population of 82 million, making it the most populous Arab country.
