India's holdings of US govt securities touch USD 135.7 billion

Washington: India has sharply increased its exposure to US government securities with holdings worth USD 135.7 billion at the end of July, official data showed.

Neighbouring China continued to top the charts with holding to the tune of USD 1.166 trillion, followed by Japan with exposure worth USD 1.113 trillion.

In recent months, India has increased its purchase of American government securities and the country is the third largest holder among the BRICS group after China and Brazil (USD 271.9 billion).

At the end of July, Russia held securities worth USD 103.1 billion.

According to the latest data from the US Treasury Department, India's holding of the securities touched USD 135.7 billion as on July end -- also the highest in a year.

There has been a significant jump in the exposure compared to June when it stood at USD 130.3 billion. Since February this year, India's holding of these securities has been on the rise.

At the end of January, the exposure was just USD 113.7 billion.

India is the 12th largest holder of US government securities just behind Saudi Arabia whose exposure stood at USD 142.5 billion at the end of July.

Other countries in the top ten are Ireland (USD 310.8 billion) at the third place, followed by Brazil, Cayman Islands (USD 259.2 billion), Switzerland (USD 244.8 billion), United Kingdom (USD 229.7 billion), Luxembourg (USD 213 billion), Hong Kong (USD 199.1 billion) and Taiwan (USD 182.5 billion).

In a recent release, the Treasury Department said foreign residents increased their holdings of long term US securities in July and net purchases stood at USD 5.1 billion.

"Foreign residents increased their holdings of US Treasury bills by USD 3.1 billion. Foreign resident holdings of all dollar-denominated short-term US securities and other custody liabilities increased by USD 7.4 billion," the release said.