(Bloomberg) -- Turkish equities fell the most in three months after Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said he’s studying a possible tax on investors’ profits from stock market trades.

The benchmark Borsa Istanbul 100 Index of equities reversed gains from earlier Monday to trade as much as 2.8% lower, its worst drop since March 26. The Borsa Istanbul Banks Index of lenders’ shares was down 3.6%.

The market reversal came after Simsek said in an interview with BloombergHT TV that the treasury is studying new taxes on proceeds from investments in the stock market. Authorities first floated the idea last month, but later backtracked in the face of adverse market reaction.

The finance minister is in a public outreach campaign to defend a new bill that would result in the introduction of additional taxes, which he says are critical to keep the nation’s finances in good shape. He vowed not to cave in to “populist demands,” amid calls from the public to announce an interim increase in the minimum wage this month. 

Turkey Studies New Taxes Worth $7 Billion That Target Corporates

Foreign investors have frequently cited such a wage hike as a key risk to an expected slowdown in consumer inflation, which topped 75% in May. The minister said it’s an important target for authorities to bring price gains below 42% by the end of the year, the upper end of the central bank’s forecast trajectory for 2024.

The lira rose 0.2% to trade at 32.6843 per US dollar. The yield on the 10-year lira bonds dropped 15 basis points.

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