The gyrating stock market has slowed the Treasury Department's efforts to sell off its stakes in 458 bailed-out companies, the report said. Those companies include insurer American International Group Inc., General Motors Co., and Ally Financial Inc.
If Treasury plans to sell its stock in those three companies at or above the price where taxpayers would break even on their investment - $28.73 a share for AIG, $53.98 for GM - it may have to wait a long time for the market to rebound to that level, the report said. AIG closed Thursday at $25.14, and GM ended at $24.72. Ally isn't publicly traded.
Getting out of the 458 companies will be challenging for the government as the market remains volatile and banks struggle to keep afloat in the tough economy, the report said.
Congress authorized $700 billion for the bailout of financial companies and automakers, and $413.4 billion was paid out. So far, the government has recovered about $318 billion. The bailout is officially called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.
"TARP is not over," Romero said in a statement. She said her office would maintain its commitment to protect taxpayers for the duration of the program.
Treasury spokesman Matt Anderson said the department "has made substantial progress winding down TARP and has already recovered more than 77 percent of the funds disbursed for the program through repayments and other income."
"We'll continue to balance the important goals of exiting our investments as soon as practicable and maximizing value for taxpayers," Anderson said.
The government has withdrawn its investments in four of the companies that received the most aid: Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Chrysler Group L.L.C., and Chrysler Financial, the automaker's former lending arm.
