Citigroup — the club-footed giant of high finance — is about to take it on the chin again.

Citi’s plan to profit from growth in foreign markets is flying in the face of Uncle Sam’s stated interest in curbing risk and stoking the domestic economy with loans.

The firm, which is due to be 34 percent-owned by the US Treasury in September, plans to report second-quarter earnings on Friday.

Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said in a speech last month in Detroit that the bank is looking for gains “away from credit creation and the US consumer” by “harnessing globalization.”

But the Federal Reserve cited “market stability” and the need for “credit flows to households and businesses” as reasons for injecting $45 billion of bailout funds last year into the Manhattan-based firm.

“It sounds great on paper to have foreign operations and revenue streams,” said Matt McCormick, a money manager at Bahl & Gaynor in Cincinnati.

“But Joe Sixpack is going to look at this and say, ‘Why in the world aren’t we focused on something that’s going to benefit the US taxpayer directly?’ “