India trims US govt securities holding to $115 bn in Nov

India has reduced its exposure to US government securities to USD 115.4 billion in November last year even as BRIC peers China and Russia hiked their holdings during the same period.

China remained the largest holder of US Treasury securities in November with exposure worth USD 1.265 trillion, followed by Japan at USD 1.145 trillion.

Latest data from the US Treasury Department showed that India’s holding declined to USD 115.4 billion during the month, from USD 116.6 billion in October 2015.

The reduction comes at a time when the global economy is witnessing headwinds, especially from growth concerns in China and relatively sluggish recovery in Europe as well as the US.

India’s exposure had fallen to USD 113.5 billion in September from USD 115.6 billion seen in August.

While India cut its exposure, Russia sharply increased its holding to USD 88 billion last November whereas that of Brazil remained unchanged at USD 255 billion compared to the October. China too raised its holding marginally.

In the three months ended December 31, the US economy grew 0.7 per cent while the GDP expansion stood at 2 per cent in July-September quarter of 2015.

“The increase in real GDP in the fourth quarter primarily reflected positive contributions from personal consumption expenditures (PCE), residential fixed investment, and federal government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment, exports,

and nonresidential fixed investment,” the US Bureau of Economic Analysis said on January 29. PTI RAM SA