Cigarette prices to rise

Cigarette makers absorbed the last rise in February but health minister Marisol Touraine applied the so-called minimum de perception rate which is intended to stop cigarettes and rolling tobacco being sold as loss-leaders.
The cheapest cigarettes – News, Lucky Strike or Winston – will rise between 10 and 20 centimes but top-selling brands such as Marlboro are unaffected as they are above the minimum price level. In all, 80% of the tobacco price is tax.