A cabinet decree issued on Wednesday decreased the special consumption tax (ÖTV) applied to hybrid automobiles by half.

Accordingly, the ÖTV for cars with electric engines producing more than 50 KW of power and with engines smaller than 1,800 cm3 was lowered from 90 percent to 45 percent.

The 145 percent ÖTV for cars with electric engines producing more than 100 KW of power and with engines smaller than 2,500 cm3 was decreased to 90 percent.

The special consumption tax, which was first introduced in 2002 in the aftermath of the 1999 Gölcük earthquake that devastated Turkish economy and infrastructure, is being applied to a number of products ranging from tobacco to cellphones.