Singapore plays saviour again with billion dollar Citigroup investment

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Singapore's multi-billion-dollar investment in Citigroup marks the third time in a month that the city-state has stepped in to help shore up an ailing global financial institution.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) said Tuesday it would invest 6.88 billion US dollars in the US banking giant, whose finances have been battered by the US housing slump.

The GIC said last month it would pump almost 10 billion dollars into Swiss bank UBS, while state-linked investment firm Temasek Holdings committed to injecting 4.4 billion dollars into US brokerage Merrill Lynch.

"Anybody coming in with liquidity will be very fortunate in buying into these companies at discount," said Ilian Mihov, an economics professor at graduate business school Insead in Singapore.

"They have ample liquidity and they're getting very good terms," he said.

GIC and Temasek are both sovereign wealth ...