India cuts holdings of American govt securities to $116.3 bn

China remained largest holder of American Treasury bills with holdings worth over $1.24 trillion

After increasing its exposure to US government securities for eight straight months, India has trimmed the holding of these instruments to $116.3 billion in July.

China remained the largest holder of American Treasury bills with holdings worth over $1.24 trillion, followed by Japan at $1.197 trillion.

Latest data from the US Treasury Department shows that India's holdings marginally reduced to $116.3 billion in July, from $117 billion recorded in June.

India has been hiking its exposure to these securities since November 2014 when it stood at $80.5 billion. These holdings crossed the $100 billion level in February this year.

Among the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) groupings, Brazil's holdings in July was worth $256.7 billion.

Interestingly, the US economy has been witnessing improved growth prospects in recent times. The country's GDP rose 3.9% 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% 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%.

Amid persisting global uncertainties, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered this year's forecast for world economic growth to 3.1%.

In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), the IMF forecast global growth of 3.1% this year and 3.6% in 2016. Global real GDP grew at 3.4% last year.