Washington: Continuing to increase its exposure to US government bonds, India's holding of such securities touched a new high of USD 117 billion in June, amid mixed global economic trends. India has purchased nearly USD 45 billion worth such securities in the first six months of this year.
In June, China continued to have the maximum exposure with holdings worth over USD 1.27 trillion, followed by Japan (USD 1.19 trillion). Since start of this year, India has been steadily hiking its exposure, which stood at USD 91.2 billion in January.
At the end of 2014, the holdings were worth USD 72.4 billion. Latest data from the US Treasury Department showed that India's holdings rose to USD 117 billion in June from USD 114 billion recorded in May. Among the BRIC grouping, only Brazil trimmed its holdings in June to USD 256.3 billion while Russia's rose to USD 72 billion. China too marginally increased its exposure during the same period.
The United States, also the world's largest economy, saw its GDP grow 2.3 per cent in the three months ended June. "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 2.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2015," according to advance estimate released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis last month.
Meanwhile, global economy is witnessing uncertain times and there are rising concerns about Chinese economic health while Europe is seeing a fragile recovery.
