Geithner: $110B Left in TARP War Chest

Some $109.6 billion remains in the government's $700 billion bailout, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner today told TARP's congressional oversight chief, Elizabeth Warren. The Treasury sec says that's plenty—he expects banks to repay about $25 billion over the next year, and won't ask Congress for more. Geithner also defended weakened bank lending, saying "In recessions following a long period of substantial borrowing, demand for credit falls much more sharply."

Geithner stressed that $355.4 billion of the money was spent by the Bush administration, including $117 billion committed to AIG, Citigroup, Bank of America, General Motors, and Chrysler. The Obama administration has pumped another $30 billion into AIG and $5 billion into automakers, bringing the total for what it termed "exceptional assistance" to $152.4 billion.
(More TARP stories.)