Congress is in no mood to vote for more money to bail out beleaguered US financial institutions, says Barney Frank, Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives’ financial services committee.

Mr Frank’s views – in an interview that predated the Treasury’s announcement of an increased stake in Citigroup – underline the challenge facing the administration of Barack Obama, president, which is trying to return US banks to normality but has so far shown reluctance to ask Congress to fund a fresh round of capital injections.