Cigarettes

Four months after vape ban, businesses pivot as black market thrives

Former vape outlets scramble as customers find alternatives.

Hiking tobacco tariffs to discourage smoking called into question

A record 200 percent import duty hike in 2012 failed to reduce demand and the number of cigarettes imported to the Maldives increased to 497 million in 2016 from 460 million the previous year despite a further hike in April 2015 that jacked up prices to MVR48 a pack.

Hundreds queue for cigarettes as import duty hiked