NEW DELHI, May 3: Logging fresh one-year high, India’s exposure to US government securities reached USD 101.7 billion as the country purchased nearly USD 10 billion worth bonds in just one month.
The holdings crossed the USD 100 billion-mark in February, the highest level in more than a year, as per the latest data available with the Treasury Department.
In January also, India’s holding had hit a one-year high of USD 91.2 billion.
Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government came to the power in May last year, the country’s exposure to such securities have been on the rise. In May last year, the holding stood at USD 70.1 billion.
In February, Japan emerged as the largest holder of American government securities pushing China to second place.
Japan’s holding stood at USD 1.224 trillion while that of China touched USD 1.223 trillion.
Among the BRIC nations, India is the third-largest holder of these securities after China and Brazil (USD 259.9 billion). Russia’s exposure declined to USD 69.6 billion in February.
In the first three months of this year, US economy unexpectedly witnessed slower growth with the GDP expanding just 0.2 per cent.
“Real gross domestic product — the value of the production of goods and services in the US, adjusted for price changes — increased at an annual rate of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2015,” the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ advance estimated released on April 29 said.
In the 2014 fourth quarter, real GDP had increased 2.2 per cent. (PTI)
Follow our WhatsApp channel