Substituting oil money

Oman started levying a 100 percent selective tax on tobacco products on June 15, reports The New Times.

The move follows an agreement among the Gulf Cooperation Council countries to impose such taxes to cope with the decline of oil prices and its negative effects on public revenues.

The Omani government hopes that the implementation of this tax will help maintain the treasury revenues.

The impact of these taxes on suppliers and distributors are already being felt with the distributors having to raise prices to the consumer.

“I bought a pack of cigarettes for about OMR2.8 ($7.27), but today it has doubled in price,” Wahab al-Zadjali, a private sector employee, was quoted as saying.