New York - US banking giant Citigroup said Monday in New York that it was cutting some 50,000 jobs from its international workforce after suffering massive losses as a result of the global financial crisis.

The bank was planning to cut costs by 20 per cent, it said Monday.

The bank cut more than 23,000 jobs earlier in the year. Monday's announcement would leave Citigroup with 300,000 employees worldwide from 375,000 last year.

Citigroup has been deep in the red for four consecutive quarters and currently has losses of more than 20 billion dollars.

The bank now plans to bring forward plans to sell off some business units. In Europe, it has already sold its private banking business in Germany.

Citigroup head Vikram Pandit, under enormous pressure after just a year in the job, made the announcement of the losses at a meeting of employees in New York.

Other US financial institutions, like JP Morgan Chase, are believed to be planning further job cuts.

At least 160,000 jobs have so far been lost in the banking industry worldwide as a result of the credit crisis.

The financial institutions have made combined losses of more than 700 billion dollars so far. (dpa)