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Citigroup sought to sell stake to Brazil-minister

Tue Nov 24, 2009 10:39am EST

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NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) offered a stake in the bank to the Brazilian government in the beginning of the year, when the financial crisis crippled the U.S. banking system, Brazilian Energy Minister Edison Lobao said on Tuesday.

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The Brazilian government passed on the offer, however, as it understood that the economy needed to recover from the crisis first, Lobao told an investor conference in New York.

"I think it was a good opportunity that we missed," Lobao said during the conference, organized by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce in New York.

"But any prudent government would have been cautious at that time. And Brazil was cautious," he added. (Reporting by Walter Brandimarte, Editing by Gerald E. McCormick) ((walter.brandimarte@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223-6319; Reuters Messaging: walter.brandimarte.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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