Israel, Palestine: West Bank Cigarette Prices Expected to Increase

Source from:  Ma'an News Agency (ps)  01/06/2014

Cigarette prices in the West Bank are expected to rise slightly after Israel brought up prices by 0.28 shekels per pack, a Palestinian Finance Ministry official said.

Bandi Dahdah, who is in charge of custom tax department, told Ma'an Saturday that Palestinian merchants "have the right" to determine prices for cigarettes because of their status as luxurious commodities.

The ministry adds custom taxes to wholesale only, Dahdah said.

He said the ministry could not penalize merchants who decided to raise cigarette prices.

Some dealers are expected to raise prices more than 0.28 Shekels, and "they can freely do that," Dahdah said. Enditem