- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Indian Apex Bank’s US Treasury Paper Purchase Grows More Than Fourfold Over 10 Years

© AFP 2023 / PUNIT PARANJPEIndian people speak on their mobiles outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters in Mumbai. (File)
Indian people speak on their mobiles outside the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) headquarters in Mumbai. (File) - Sputnik International
Subscribe
New Delhi (Sputnik): India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), has increased its foreign exchange reserves to a record $433.59 billion. Since July this year, the RBI has bought gold worth $5.1 billion. The value of the precious metal in the country’s forex reserves is to the tune of $26.7 billion as of October this year.

The RBI has steadily increased the share of US securities in forex assets. The RBI’s treasury purchase has grown more than fourfold, from $35.8 billion in 2008 to $161 billion in October 2019 on the back of safety and liquidity that the US papers offer.

Between November 2018 and January 2019, the RBI made US Treasury investments worth $7 billion, taking the total purchase to $144.9 billion by the end of January this year. Between February and June this year, the banking regulator purchased $18.4 billion worth US Treasury papers. By October this year, the investment had gone up to $161 billion.

With this, India has now become the 13th largest investor in US Treasuries and is ahead of South Korea, Germany, France, Thailand, Mexico, and Singapore as far as placement in the US sovereign debt is concerned.

Treasury paper is a short-term US government bond backed by the Treasury Department. These securities are considered as low-risk and secure investments.

A banking source, who did not wish to be named, said, “RBI always gives primacy to safety and liquidity, while taking a call on forex investments. Sovereign bonds of advanced economies fulfil both”.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала