U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner says the government will almost certainly lose money on its investment in the domestic auto industry.
But Geithner told business leaders in Detroit today that making a profit was never the objective. He says the aim of the Troubled Asset Relief Program – or TARP – was twofold:
"One is to get these companies back in private hands as quickly as we can, it makes no sense for the government to be in there a day longer than is necessary, but we also want to recover as much of the taxpayers’ money as possible."
Geithner says, on the whole, he expects the TARP investments in all sectors – including banking and insurance – will yield a profit.
