These guys never stop begging for cash …….

Citigroup’s new chairman says that if the US government took bad assets off bank balance sheets, banks might be able lend more money.

He acknowledged that Citi was not lending as aggressively as in the past because of “balance sheet issues”.

A shortage of credit is a major factor behind the economic slowdown.

“We can off-load bad assets in return for making commitments to be more robust on lending,” he said.

But he denied a quid pro quo: “It’s not a situation of, you do this for me, and I’ll do that.”

He indicated that the bank could be interested in a government program offered to the sector but Citigroup would not approach the government directly.

Mr Parsons said the money could come from the $700bn financial rescue fund authorized late last year.

Citigroup has already received $45bn of government funds as part of last year’s banking bail-out.

When does it end?  When will CITI finally have enough funds to be solvent again?  How much do we, as taxpayers, need to throw at CITI to help them out of their problems?