Business News : State Bank of India (SBI) Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara has said that regulatory measures discouraging retail investors from betting in the derivatives market (F&O) can help the banking system raise much-needed deposits. Khara said that budget announcements such as changes on short-term and long-term capital gains will not be of much benefit from the deposit growth point of view. Khara said, things like F&O (futures and options) are being discouraged by the regulator for retail investors. Those who are resorting to such instruments may come back to the banking system.

90 percent of investors are suffering losses 

It is worth noting that 90 percent of investors are suffering losses in derivatives trading. In such a situation, there is a fear that the savings of families are flying away in 'speculation' instead of being invested in productive purposes. According to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in the financial year 2023-24 alone, retail investors lost Rs 52,000 crore in such activities, which needs to be curbed. SEBI has come up with a seven-point plan with the aim of curbing such betting, while some steps have also been taken in the general budget to curb such activities. For the last three years, deposit growth has been unable to keep pace with the increase in loans. Khara said that this money is going to alternative means such as the capital market. 

Bank account is the main means of saving money

However, he emphasized that the bank account is the main means of depositing the savings of families and it earns interest. He reminded that even in 2011, loan growth was more than deposit growth. Currently, concerns are being expressed about the gap between deposit and loan growth, due to which banks are moving at a slow pace in lending, which can be detrimental to overall economic growth. SBI has a total market share of 20 percent. Khara said that in the current financial year 2024-25, SBI is targeting a growth of 15 percent in loans and eight percent in deposits. However, he said that the bank's effort will be to take deposit growth to 10 percent.