THE FINANCE Ministry will look into whether to reactivate the old car withdrawal scheme as a means of stimulating the market, lawmakers said yesterday.

The withdrawal scheme ended late last year and has not been renewed so far, apparently falling victim of cost-cutting due to the economic crisis.

Under the recall and replacement scheme nearly 24,000 old cars were taken off the road between 2008 and 2009 at a cost of €19.6 million.

The matter was discussed yesterday before the House Trade Committee in the presence of Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis.

The committee tried to convince the minister of the advantages of the withdrawal of vehicles over 15-years-old with the simultaneous purchase of a smaller or ‘cleaner’ car.

Committee chairman Lefteris Christoforou said it would be very important to stimulate the market by reactivating the withdrawal scheme.

He said despite his initial negative stance, the finance minister was convinced and assured the he would look into the issue of launching the scheme again.