Citigroup Inc may have to raise $5-$10 billion in new capital to meet a U.S. government requirement that it holds up to $55 billion in capital, the New York Times said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. government told Citigroup Inc that it would need $50-$55 billion in capital, according to the results of government stress tests of banks, the newspaper said.

Citigroup is expected to need to raise capital as insurance against any further downturn in the economy, according to the paper.

The New York bank can easily cover any shortfall and is considering several options to close that gap, the paper cited Citigroup executives as saying.

A Citigroup spokesman in Hong Kong was not immediately available for comment.

Bank of America Corp has been deemed to need as much as $34 billion in additional capital, a source familiar with the results told Reuters late on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Ajay Kamalakaran in Bangalore; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)

Citigroup Bank of america