How much did TARP cost? $25 billion

Despite critics' estimates that it would cost over $100 billion, TARP only cost $47 billion and recouped almost half of that.

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Alex Brandon / AP / File
Phyllis Caldwell, chief of the Homeownership Preservation Office for the Treasury Department, center, talks with Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) panel members Damon Silvers, left, and Richard Neiman, in Washington on Oct. 27. Despite much higher initial estimates, TARP ended up costing the taxpayers about $25 billion.

The much-maligned TARP program will cost taxpayers only $25 billion according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. That’s substantially less than the $66 billion CBO estimated back in August or the $113 billion that the Office of Management and Budget estimated in October.

The good news, budget-wise, is that the government is on track to make about $22 billion on its assistance to banks.

However, CBO estimates that TARP’s other activities will cost $47 billion. This reflects aid to AIG ($14 billion), the auto industry ($19 billion), mortgage programs ($12), and a few smaller programs ($2 billion).

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