Financial Tribune - No cigarettes were imported into Iran during the first half of the current fiscal year (March 21-Sept. 22) while 1.42 billion cigarettes were imported during last year's corresponding period, the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade reported.

The decision to halt import does not mean no foreign cigarettes entered Iran, as smuggling is rife in the country.

Some 150 million cigarettes were exported from Iran over the same period to register a 6.3% decrease year-on-year.

Raw tobacco exports stood at 89 tons, showing a 43% decline compared with the same period of last year.

An estimated 32.5 billion cigarettes were smoked in Iran during the first half of the current year, compared with 27.5 billion year-on-year.

The government earned 2.5 trillion rials ($19.23 million) from cigarette tax in H1 of the ongoing fiscal. The figure indicates a rise of 29.7% compared with the same period of last year.

Revenues from cigarette tax, another subcategory of tax on goods and services of indirect taxes, were estimated to hover around 2.7 trillion rials ($20.78 million) in the six-month period.

The target set in the budget law for current year�s revenues from cigarette tax is 5.3 trillion rials ($40.76 million).