CAIRO - Egyptian smokers felt frustrated and angry because the Government raised the price of cigarettes by 10 per cent for the local and foreign brands manufactured here. Under this decision, which was scheduled to come into effect on July 1, sellers started selling cigarettes at the new prices, which left smokers fuming. The sellers claim that there is an acute shortage in cigarettes because Egypt's only cigarette maker with almost 20 brands on the market, the state-owned manufacturer Eastern Tobacco Company, has stopped providing them with their daily quotas in order to sell the products at the new prices. Last week, the company claimed a fall in sales of LE300 million since the new tax was announced earlier in the month. When the Cabinet, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, decided to increase cigarette prices, smokers labelled the move a new disaster, that fell on their heads and pockets. The Cabinet did not announce how much the increase would add to the State coffers. In the down town area, kiosk owners and tobacconists saw business increase, before the decision went into effect. They sold a Cleopatra pack of 20 cigarettes for about LE6 after it was sold for LE5.50. "It is the company which is behind the shortage," kiosk owner Farghali Hassan said, adding that the increase is matched by a rumbling wave of discontent among Cairo smokers, who did not find their favourite Cleopatra brand. "It is a mad rise in prices. Every day, smokers wake to find a new price rise," Nader Shawqi, a Government employee, said. "If the Government wants to force people to quit by making tobacco products more expensive, it is a very silly idea," Shawqi said, adding that smoking is part of the Egyptian culture. Adel Mahmoud, a Government employee, who sees smoking as relief from the daily grind, said he was angry when he first heard about the decision, which would add an extra financial burden to his household budget. "Nowadays, the Government considers smoking cigarettes a luxury and wants the smokers to pay for it. It is another financial burden," he said between drags from his cigarette," Adel said. The number of smokers has soared in Egypt during the past three decades, a recent study showed. An average smoker consumes an estimated 2,500 cigarettes a year, according to a recent study by the Assiut Centre for Environmental Studies. 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 80 million, making it the most populous Arab country. 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 cafe houses, which have become a central feature of Cairo, the shisha (water pipe)-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 Mohammed 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 can not afford the new prices," a cafe shop owner said. The Government-run Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (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.
