Wall Street Bailout to Cost Taxpayers $25 Billion, CBO Says

The Troubled Asset Relief Program will cost taxpayers far less than initially feared, with the price tag likely to total about $25 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

“It was not apparent when the TARP was created two years ago that the costs would be this low,” the nonpartisan agency said today in a report seconding administration predictions. “Because the financial system stabilized and then improved, the amount of funds used by the TARP was well below the $700 billion initially authorized and the outcomes of most transactions made through the TARP were favorable for the federal government.”