March 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration has found “considerable” investor interest in its plan to purge toxic assets from banks’ balance sheets, National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers said.

“Some of the major firms have suggested a willingness, and perhaps even an eagerness, to take part,” Summers said today in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “There’s considerable investor interest from a number of different quarters.”

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a program today that aims to use government financing to spur the purchase of $500 billion to $1 trillion in frozen assets. The effort relies on federal partnerships with hedge funds, private equity firms and other investors to buy the securities.

Summers said the administration is “gratified” that stocks are rallying today.

“We’re not managing to markets in the short run,” he said. “We don’t panic when markets go down and we don’t become euphoric when markets go up.”

Summers also said that investors in the Public-Private Investment Program won’t be subject to the compensation limits applied to major banks rescued by the government.

To contact the reporters on this story: Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 23, 2009 11:36 EDT