Citi joins Calif. call to unite ratings-Treasurer

NEW YORK, April 22 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has joined California's call for credit agencies to synchronize the rating systems they use for municipal and taxable bonds, which could save public borrowers millions of dollars, the state's treasurer said on Tuesday.

Noting that credit markets were in the midst of "unprecedented upheaval," Ward Marsh, head of the bank's municipal securities division, wrote Moody's Investors Service that: "The time has come to rate tax-exempt municipal securities on an even footing with taxable and corporate bonds."

His letter was released by California Treasurer Bill Lockyer, who has said many muni bonds would be upgraded under the proposal because they have lower default rates than their corporate cousins. (Reporting by Joan Gralla; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)