Facing domestic pressure over its stakes in troubled US banks, Kuwait's $200bn sovereign wealth fund yesterday took the unusual step of acknowledging losses in Citigroup, one of its most high profile investments.

Bader al-Saad, managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority, told al-Arabiya television that the fund had lost $270m in Citi but had made no losses on its investment in Merrill Lynch, which has been bought by Bank of America.