Ajay Banga, chief executive of Citi in the Asia Pacific region, told the paper that the bank also plans to expand lending across the region in spite of the “challenging” economic environment.

The Asia Pacific region, including Japan and Australia, made up 30 per cent of Citi’s revenues last year, spanning corporate and consumer lending, credit cards, trading and private banking.

Referring to the US government bail-out funds the group has received, Mr Banga said in an interview: “It is in US taxpayers’ best interests that we continue to grow in a region which is delivering strong profits across all its business lines.”