India's exposure to US govt securities touches $144.7 billion in 2017

India's exposure to US government securities rose sharply to a high of 144.7 billion US dollars at the end of 2017. 

According to latest official data, the country remained the 12th largest overseas holder of such securities, just behind oil-rich Saudi Arabia, whose holding stood at 147.4 billion dollars in December 2017. 

India has been raising its holding of American government securities during last year except for a few months when the total exposure had declined.Figures compiled by the US Treasury Department show that the holding of India went



up to 144.7 billion dollars in December last, an increase of little over 26 billion dollars compared to the year-ago period. 

In December 2016, the exposure was just 118.2 billion dollars. While holding at the end of December is at a one-year high compared to December 2016, the exposure was slightly higher at 145.1 billion dollars in September 2017. 

In 2017, neighbouring China was the largest holder of US government securities with holdings to the tune of 1.18 trillion dollars, followed by Japan at 1.06 trillion dollars.