The US treasury department has given its approval for 10 of the nation's largest banks to start repaying about $68bn of bailout money they were lent to combat a liquidity crisis.
The department did not name the banks but US media reports said those who will repay funds included American Express, Capital One Financial, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
Analysts say the move indicates that the US government has confidence in the banks' viability after months of financial instability in the country.
Many of the banks had also resented the restrictions placed on the bailout funds regarding executive pay that the US government had imposed.
"These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do," Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, said in a one-page statement on Tuesday.
Geithner has also said the money paid back into the $700bn bailout fund by healthy banks can be reused to help smaller banks, even those who have already received a bailout.
Economists say that allowing some banks to repay money to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) will effectively begin the process of separating stronger banks from weaker ones as the financial sector slowly recovers.
More than 600 banks across the country have received funds from the bailout so far.
US banks to repay bailout funds
The US treasury department has given its approval for 10 of the nation's largest banks to start repaying about $68bn of bailout money they were lent to combat a liquidity crisis.
The department did not name the banks but US media reports said those who will repay funds included American Express, Capital One Financial, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs.
Analysts say the move indicates that the US government has confidence in the banks' viability after months of financial instability in the country.
Many of the banks had also resented the restrictions placed on the bailout funds regarding executive pay that the US government had imposed.
"These repayments are an encouraging sign of financial repair, but we still have work to do," Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, said in a one-page statement on Tuesday.
Geithner has also said the money paid back into the $700bn bailout fund by healthy banks can be reused to help smaller banks, even those who have already received a bailout.
Economists say that allowing some banks to repay money to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) will effectively begin the process of separating stronger banks from weaker ones as the financial sector slowly recovers.
More than 600 banks across the country have received funds from the bailout so far.
Posts
