Neil Barofsky, special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) testifies during a House Oversight and Governmental Reform Committee hearing on AIG bonuses in Washington on October 14, 2009. UPI/Kevin Dietsch |
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WASHINGTON, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The program that bailed out large banks helped save the industry but the administration of it led to distrust, a report from the program overseer said.
The Troubles Asset Relief Program got another report card Wednesday from Neil Barofsky, who is the special inspector general watching the bailout program. Congress allocated $700 billion for TARP to support financial companies, mainly nine large banks, facing the worst of the economic fallout, mostly caused by granting bad loans.
The overall program has been a success along that line, Barofsky said in a report released Wednesday. But the secrecy with which the U.S. Treasury Department ran TARP led to distrust from the American public.
The program's budget was also used to help struggling carmakers and homeowners dealing with mortgage problems. Barofsky said those parts of TARP may not be repaid while many of the large banks have paid off billions of dollars in program-related loans.
U.S. President Barack Obama was expected to expand TARP to allow unused funds to help smaller banks facing problems.
