President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has stated that there is no change to the policy maintained by the government regarding the tobacco issue.

The President stated that there is no change to the policy.

He further stated that even back then, he had noted that changes would be made to the tobacco duty in line with the recommendations of the WHO and certain international bodies, but up until that point, bringing such a change was not deemed appropriate.

During a press conference held at the President's Office yesterday, Minister of Homeland Security Ali Ihusaan stated that advice has been received from the WHO to reduce the current MVR 8 tobacco duty levied in the Maldives to MVR 4 this year.

The Minister also stated that discussions are currently underway to bring about the necessary changes in relation to this matter.