The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is expected to allow banks to launch gold-linked deposit schemes that will help them hedge gold price related risks through commodity exchanges.
The move will allow banks to dabble in the commodities trade as current banking regulations do not allow commercial banks to trade directly in commodities. RBI approval for the scheme is expected in the next eight weeks.
It is also understood that an active dialogue has been initiated between the RBI and the Forward Markets Commission (FMC) on whether gold should be treated as a commodity or a currency equivalent.
P H Ravikumar, managing director and CEO, National Commodity and Derivative Exchange Ltd (NCDEX), one of the four national level multi-commodity exchanges approved by FMC, said,