SEOUL - CITIGROUP Inc has injected $800 million (S$1.5 billion) of new capital into its South Korean banking arm to lift its capital ratio, Citibank Korea said on Monday.

Sixty per cent of the injection will be used to issue new shares while the remaining 40 per cent will be for subordinated debt, both to be acquired by the New York-based banking giant, Citi said.

Banks across the region have been rushing to raise new capital as the deepening economic slump is expected to snowball bad loans and cut into profits.

'Citibank Korea is the largest Citigroup subsidiary in Asia Pacific in terms of capital and assets, and now becomes one of the biggest subsidiaries of Citigroup,' the South Korean bank said. -- REUTERS