US plans to exit GM stake by end of year

The US treasury department says it expects to sell its remaining shares of General Motors by the end of the year, a plan that may leave taxpayers with a shortfall of about $10 billion on the car-maker's 2009 bailout.

Officials said the department had completed the sale of 70.2 million shares of GM stock and to date had recouped $38.4 billion from the $49.5 billion taxpayer-funded rescue of the Detroit company. At current prices, treasury would recoup another $1.2 billion from its remaining stake, bringing its total recovery to $39.6 billion.

“Our goal was never to make a profit,” said a treasury official. “It was to save the US auto industry.”

Treasury said the sale would take place by the end of the year, subject to market conditions and if average daily trading volumes continued at recent levels. – ( Reuters)