Kuwait eyes profit from Citigroup stake -minister

KUWAIT, April 28 (Reuters) - Kuwait's finance minister expressed confidence in the Gulf Arab state's sovereign wealth fund investment in U.S. bank Citigroup (C.N), saying in remarks published on Tuesday that it could turn profitable.

"Our investment in Citi... is beneficial... and God willing we will reach a stage where it becomes profitable," Mustapha al-Shamali told al-Rai newspaper.

The Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), which manages state assets in the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, has come under fire from some parliamentarians for investing $5 billion last year in U.S. banks Citigroup (C.N) and Merrill Lynch MER.N. Merrill has since been bought by Bank of America (BAC.N).

"Yes, we were affected because a big part of these investments are outside Kuwait," Shamali said, but he added: "Our investment position is good."

The value of foreign assets managed by the KIA, fell by about 9 billion dinars in the nine months to December 2008, due to the financial crisis, two lawmakers said in February after a government briefing. KIA managed assets worth about 49 billion dinars at Dec. 31, the MPs said.

"A big part of the (KIA's) investments are in real estate and the value of these investments fell, but as long as the real estate is there and has income, I don't have to liquidate it," Shamali told al-Rai.

Since October 2008, KIA has reduced the exposure of its key Future Generation fund to global equities markets, shifting assets to cash funds, the government said in January.

In July, Shamali said the fund -- a nest egg for when oil runs out -- managed assets worth at least 72 billion dinars in the 2007/08 fiscal year. (Reporting by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Simon Jessop)