Geithner Says Some TARP Programs to End

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Obama administration will close some programs at the heart of the $700 billion financial bailout, Reuters reports.

Geithner told Reuters the administration will begin to wind down the programs that initially defined the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and will instead focus on more targeted programs in principal areas where there's still weakness in terms of access to credit.

A formal decision as to whether to extend the life of the overall bailout program passed its scheduled ts expiry at the end of 2009 hasn't been made.

A Treasury official said three programs will be shut down by year end: the Capital Purchase Program that was used to pump funds into banks; a rejigged version called the Capital Assistance Program that was never tapped; and the Targeted Investment Program that supplied $40 billion of additional capital to prop up Citigroup(C) and Bank of America(BAC).

The official also said the total of bailout funds dedicated to a Federal Reserve securities loan program and to a public-private investment program for so-called toxic assets would be capped at $30 billion each.

To date, the Treasury has invested $204.64 billion in more than 600 banks with the Capital Purchase Program, and some $70.72 billion has been repaid, according to Reuters.

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