Former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has accused the US Government of being inconsistent in its bailout approaches, saying the rescue of Citigroup supercedes its response to AIG.

In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal Mr Greenberg says the US Government should provide a federal guarantee to meet AIG’s counterparty collateral requirements.

“The Government’s strategy for Citi differs markedly from its initial response to the first companies to experience liquidity crises,” he said.

“More needs to be done to save AIG. A new plan needs to be drawn up to allow private capital to replace the Government’s capital. The company itself cannot be so burdened with interest payments that it is forced into effective liquidation.”

Mr Greenberg says the Federal Reserve Bank’s loan to AIG will result in the loss of tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of losses for pension funds.