Singapore eyes new bank deals

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund triggered talk of another spending splurge today as elder statesman Lee Kuan Yew said further deals could happen.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) already holds $18 billion (£9.04 billion) of shares in Citigroup and UBS as part of a $100 billion portfolio.

Citigroup could give GIC its first opportunity. The US bank, hit with writedowns on subprime mortgages and bonds, is selling another $3 billion of stock two weeks after reporting its second consecutive quarterly loss. But Lee indicated Singapore may look for other assets, too.

"If there are other banks of the quality of the two that we bought into, with the promise and the capabilities to recover, we have got the liquidity to meet it, to make such an investment," he said on Bloomberg television.

Lee said the country was looking for stable returns over as long as 30 years.