Improved lending good for Citgroup PR?

August 12, 2009 | By Jim Kim

Citigroup made some headlines when it announced that it had approved an additional $6 billion as part of its TARP efforts in the second quarter. That raises its total TARP-related lending programs to around $51 billion. Of course, it has taken $45 billion in TARP funds, which eventually was exchanged for a 34 percent ownership stake by the government.

CNBC pundit Jim Cramer has suggested that there is something of a PR game at play. Obviously, the bank has every reason to tout any program that makes it look like it is doing its part to mend the economy. But Vikram Pandit's heart remains overseas, where he has consistently said Citi is in a good position; this is a PR challenge in itself, we've noted. It would be easy to paint yourself unwittingly as more concerned with overseas growth than domestic lending.

For more:
- here's a CNBC item