People will shift from bank deposits to other instruments: FM

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the convention that banks deposits were safe investment avenues would be a thing of past and people would shift to alternative instruments which have the potential to provide better returns."It (bank deposit) is certainly safe, but then the whole concept of economic system that banking system pay high rate of interest for those deposits were no longer relevant. And world over people have successfully experimented it. "The conventional deposit rate, the lending rate are very low but you have very powerful alternative instruments in which if you invest you will earn a lot higher. That is how the pension funds and sovereign funds are surviving and doingextremely well," he said while launching the State Bank of India's wealth management initiative SBI Exclusif.The Bank, he said, can play a role in helping large section of retired persons who were trying to live a respectable life on the strength of their savings. "In India now as that opportunity expands, as a number of people with additional resources increases, you need a set of competent managers to manage the resources," Jaitley said. SBI Exclusif is targeted at the fast-growing affluent segment in the country for wealth management which will come initially free of cost. Under the scheme, SBI Exclusif customers will have access to a dedicated Relationship Manager supported by a team of investment experts to take care of all their banking andinvestment needs.The bank had launched the offering in Bengaluru on a pilot basis on January and it rolled out this service in Delhi today for customers who earn a monthly income of Rs 2 lakh per month or fixed deposits of Rs 30 lakh or Rs one crore housing loan.