The Obama administration’s budget plan forecasts total bailout costs for the Troubled Asset Relief Program at $48.29 billion, but the estimate is already well out of date.
The forecast, frozen at Nov. 30 market prices, does not take into consideration 563 million shares of bailed out insurer American International Group that were previously held by the Federal Reserve but transferred to the Treasury in January.
Including these shares, the U.S. Treasury’s official cost estimate for the Troubled Asset Relief Program falls to $28.12 billion. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has recently said he believes a Congressional Budget Office estimate of $25 billion may be too high.
Market valuations for government holdings in AIG and General Motors also have risen since the estimate was locked in.





