RIYADH – Cigarette packets have disappeared from Riyadh shops and markets after the General Authority of Zakat and Tax decided to impose higher tariffs on tobacco products from June 10. Al-Eqtisadiah Arabic daily said its correspondent visited a number of shops in Riyadh and found they have stopped selling cigarettes ahead of the application of new tariff. However, the correspondent found large quantities of cigarette packets in major shopping centers in the capital city. But customers said shops used to keep cigarettes in secret places to sell them at higher prices, despite tremendous increase in tariff and prices. "Shop owners want to make big profits as a result of tariff hike," one client said. Abdul Rahman Al-Hussain, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, said the ministry's officials were inspecting shops to make sure they follow its rules and regulations. Few days before the announcement on implementing selective tariff on tobacco products people had purchased large quantities of cigarettes expecting rise in prices by 50 to 100 percent after June 10. Shop owners said there was big increase in sales of cigarettes and beverages and they attributed the increase to the advent of Ramadan. Some shop owners in the Kingdom have removed cigarette packs from their shelves in anticipation of price hikes. "Importers submitted invoices showing the value of some cigarettes as SR2 per pack, but that figure does not represent the real price. Now, no price below SR4 will be accepted," an official statement said. Last March 13 the price of a pack of Marlboro reached SR12 and L&M Loft SR10. In the country›s 2016 budget statement in December, the Finance Ministry said it would apply "additional fees on harmful goods such as tobacco, soft drinks and the like", but gave no date at that time.
