Market Failure IA Commentary. This article is about the price of cigarettes in Macao as a cause of market failure. The government tackles the problem of this market failure through the implementation of an increase in tobacco tax.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Tobacco tax increase 'too little'

12/12/2011 20:30:00

Alexandra Lages

http://www.macaudailytimes.com.mo/macau/32281-Tobacco-tax-increase-too-little-associations.html

The tobacco tax will more than double, from MOP 4 to MOP 10, according to a government-proposed draft law recently sent to lawmakers' approval.?Local anti-smoking associations regard the MOP 6 raise as too low, while Hong Kong-based World Health Organisation (WHO) senior policy advisor Judith Mackay says it is still "inadequate".?The secretary for Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen had promised to raise the tobacco tax last month at the Legislative Assembly.?The tax will increase by MOP 0.5 for each cigarette, in order to be in line with the ban on smoking in public places that comes into effect from January 1.?In Macau the tobacco tax was last updated in 2009 and is currently set at MOP 0.2 per cigarette or MOP 4 per 20-cigarette pack.?Currently the average price of a cigarette pack is MOP 20, while in Hong Kong it costs up to MOP 50 after a 41.6 percent increase set in June this year.?Local anti-smoking associations and lawmakers were calling for an increase similar to Hong Kong.?"We are very disappointed. We hope that the government will consider matching the tax with Hong Kong