Government prepared to give GM and Chrysler more money
And he gave the strongest signal to date that the government would pump more money into the auto industry.
Steve Rattner told Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital with Al Hunt" that the amount the two struggling automakers need "could be considerably higher. I won't deny that. There are a lot of pieces to this. The rate of car sales is the most important determinant," he said.
Chrysler has received $4 billion in government loans and wants another $5 billion. GM has received $13.4 billion and is seeking another $16.6 billion in loans and a line of credit.
"What they've asked for depends on them achieving plans that are somewhat ambitious. We haven't finished analyzing, and I'm not here to pronounce on them. But like all management teams, they tend to take a reasonably — slightly perhaps — optimistic view of their business. So it could be more. I can't rule that out. And I don't know when the taxpayers will get it back," Rattner said in a transcript made available by Bloomberg.
Rattner also said the Obama administration may return to Congress to seek more money for automakers, and hinted that the administration would offer additional aid to automakers.
His comments came a day after the administration agreed to use $5 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to aid parts suppliers.
"The supplier money is coming from the TARP allocation, and then the administration will have to decide as we go forward where the rest would come from," Rattner said. More at Detroit News