Finance Ministry wary of MFs' entry into commodity derivatives space

The Union finance ministry is at odds with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over the foray of mutual funds (MFs) and portfolio managers into the commodity derivatives space.
 
Last month, the Sebi board approved such participation to provide investors an additional tool to hedge against inflation. The guidelines are awaited.
 
The objective was to also facilitate efficient price risk management, and price discovery in a transparent and orderly manner. It is learnt the department of economic affairs (DEA) has expressed disagreement over the move.
 
It worries this could lead to speculative bets in the