Turkey is one of the world’s most expensive petrol hotspots as of December 2012 despite the reductions in tax, said Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek.

The high prices are determined by free market conditions as direct or indirect state intervention has been capped off, said the minister, responding to parliamentary questions. He said the state’s regulations like formation of refinery prices with an index or setting an upper limit for the shares of distributors and carriers have been eliminated in addition to decreases in taxes. “Although fuel prices have increased for years, the tax burden hasn’t, on the contrary it decreased for the last 10 years.” Most recently, the Finance Ministry raised taxes on fuel oil, diesel fuel and LPG to 30 kuruş per liter in October, Hurriyet Daily News report.