KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may introduce minimum retail prices for cigarettes to counter tobacco companies that are trying to attract buyers with cheap products, a news report said.

Health Minister Chua Soi Lek, quoted by the national news agency Bernama on Saturday, said his ministry was considering the proposal because studies have shown that public demand for cigarettes falls whenever prices rise.

“The ministry is disappointed by the actions of multinational tobacco companies, which of late have launched a price war to increase their sales,” Bernama quoted Chua as saying. “This goes against the government’s wish to see a reduction in smoking among Malaysians.”

A pack of 20 cigarettes can sell for as low as 5 ringgit (US$1.40; euro1.05). Chua did not specify what the minimum price might be. Officials could not immediately be contacted to comment on the report.

Nearly 4 million of Malaysia’s 26 million people smoke, according to 2006 government statistics. About 10,000 people die every year from smoking-related ailments.

Chua said his ministry was also pushing for cigarette packets to carry graphic warning labels on the dangers of smoking, Bernama reported.

“These graphic warnings will need to be changed from time to time so that smokers know clearly what they are exposing themselves to by smoking,” Chua said at a health event in north-eastern Kelantan state.—AP