Mr. Pandit now confronts growing doubt about his leadership and management team at a time of uncertainty in the financial markets and the economy. “There are a lot of balls in the air for Vikram Pandit,” said David Hendler, a financial services analyst at CreditSights in New York. “Pretty soon, that 100-day honeymoon is going to be over. In the meantime, they may have to act.”

Citigroup’s capital levels came under scrutiny in October when Meredith A. Whitney, now a banking analyst at Oppenheimer, issued a scathing report saying the company’s weakening finances would force it to cut its dividend, sell assets and issue new stock. At the time, Citigroup executives brushed off those ideas. By the end of 2007, they were heeding Ms. Whitney’s advice.

On Tuesday, the person close to Citigroup said the company was strong enough to maintain its dividend, which costs the company about $6 billion annually. Still, that leaves open the possibility that the board may elect to cut the dividend.

Citigroup says it has more than enough capital to meet regulatory guidelines and its own internal benchmarks. The bank is in the process of raising several billion dollars by selling assets from several smaller fringe businesses and has pulled back from some domestic and international markets. It will also free up several billion dollars as the number of loans on its books shrink.

Citigroup executives have said the bank is strong enough to withstand more shocks, including a further decline in the value of subprime mortgage investments and buyout loans, potential downgradings of bond insurance companies and big consumer-loan losses.

“The exposures to these areas were stress-tested against an economic downturn with a variety of severity levels,” Gary L. Crittenden, the chief financial officer, said in a conference call with investors in January. Taking all the factors together, he said, the company had addressed a potential capital shortfall.

Still, many analysts question whether Citigroup has the earnings power to withstand the heavy losses that might come with a severe economic slump.

“They might as well fess up and admit they need to raise a big chunk of money,” said Christopher Whalen, managing partner of Institutional Risk Analytics. “The issue with Citi is all the coming consumer credit losses.”