Citigroup is racing against the clock to convince the US authorities to be allowed to repay $20bn of bail-out funds, with insiders and regulators arguing that unless the bank acts in the next 10 days it will have to wait for more than a month.

The short window for a decision on the repayment of funds from the troubled asset relief programme raises the stakes for Citi in its quest to free itself from the shackles of the government, which also owns a 34 per cent stake in the lender.

Separately, the Kuwait Investment Authority, the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund, has made a $1.1bn profit after selling its entire 5 per cent stake in Citi for $4.1bn, less than two years after acquiring preferred shares in the ailing bank during the financial crisis.