BAT calls on Govt to stub out duty hike

No more hikes please: Clini (2nd from left) has called for a ‘temporary halt’ to excise duty increases. With him are (from left) legal and external affairs director Datuk Christine Lee, chairman Tan Sri Mohamad Salim and finance director Pablo Sconfianza at the company’s AGM.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s biggest cigarette maker, British American Tobacco (M) Bhd (BAT), is hoping that the Government will freeze any further excise duty hike this year to help stabilise the tobacco industry.

Managing director Stefano Clini said the local tobacco industry has seen three excise duty hikes since September 2013, the last one in November saw the tax jump by 36%.