Citigroup unlikely to cut jobs in the Middle East
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Citigroup Inc. is unlikely to cut jobs in the Middle East region as it restructures its operations amid write downs worth billions of dollars, a bank executive told Down Jones on Sunday.
"The Middle East is one of our last frontiers. No job cuts are likely to be seen in this region while the bank continues with its expansion plans," the executive, who asked not to be named, said.
Citigroup, one of America's largest lenders, had said on Friday that it plans to cut 9,000 more jobs worldwide during the second quarter this year, following losses of $5.1 billion during the first quarter.
"These (the job cuts) will mainly be in New York, London and Hong Kong," he said, adding that this is mainly due to redundancies while unifying back offices, operations and human resources.
Citigroup's investment bank endured about $12 billion in write downs on its exposure to various parts of the credit markets, bringing the division's total losses to about $32 billion since last summer.
Citigroup, like most other international banks, has been aggressive in expanding in the Middle East and North Africa region. With over 30 branches and offices around the region, the bank employs close to 3000 permanent employees.