Smokers to pay $20 for cigarette pack under campaign to eliminate smoking

Smokers in New Zealand will pay $20 for a pack of cigarettes under the government's budget plan released on Thursday. Polluting industries will also get hit with higher taxes.

In its annual budget, the government forecasts that rising fiscal surpluses in coming years will allow it to begin paying down its public debt.

The government plans to hike tobacco taxes by 46 percent over the next four years as it continues an ambitious campaign to eliminate smoking from the South Pacific nation by 2025. Once the taxes are in place, a pack of 20 cigarettes will cost about 30 NZ dollars, about US $20, one of the highest prices in the world.