Guinness Anchor adjusts product prices after excise duty hike

PETALING JAYA: Guinness Anchor Bhd (GAB) announced price adjustments to its portfolio of products following the government's decision to raise excise duty on beer and stout, yesterday without revealing the quantum of increase.
Its managing director Hans Essaadi said that the price adjustments are in line with the new tax structure which came into effect on March 1, 2016.
He said in a statement yesterday that Malaysia's beer excise duty is the second highest in Asia and third highest in the world.
"The state of the economy is having a significant impact on businesses and consumers and the latest increase in excise duty on beer and stout will make the environment more challenging to our industry. We are also concerned that the demand for illicit and unregulated alcohol products may increase," he added.