India cuts holdings of US govt securities to $116.3 bn

After increasing its exposure to US government securities for eight straight months, India has trimmed the holding of these instruments to USD 116.3 billion in July.China remained the largest holder of American Treasury bills with holdings worth over USD 1.24 trillion, followed by Japan at USD 1.197 trillion.Latest data from the US Treasury Department shows that India's holdings marginally reduced to USD 116.3 billion in July, from USD 117 billion recorded in June.India has been hiking its exposure to these securities since November 2014 when it stood at USD 80.5 billion. These holdings crossed the USD 100 billion level in February this year.Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) groupings, Brazil's holdings in July was worth USD 256.7 billion.Interestingly, the US economy has been witnessing improved growth prospects in recent times. The country's GDP rose 3.9 percent in the three months ended June."Real gross domestic product -- the value of the goods and services produced by the nation's economy less the value of the goods and services used up in production, adjusted for price changes -- increased at an annual rate of 3.9 percent in the second quarter of 2015," according to the third estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis released last month.In the first quarter, real GDP grew just 0.6 percent.Amid persisting global uncertainties, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered this year's forecast for world economic growth to 3.1 percent.In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF forecast global growth of 3.1 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2016. Global real GDP grew at 3.4 percent last year.