Cost of bailout funding drops to $105.4 billion

The price tag for rescuing failing financial institutions has dropped another $11.4 billion. 

The cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program is now $105.4 billion, since the White House released its fiscal year 2011 budget in February, the Treasury Department said Friday in a letter to Congress. 

Several factors contributed to the cost adjustment, including the appreciation in value of 7.7 billion in shares of Citigroup stock held by the Treasury, increasing 80 cents a share. In addition, Automotive Industry Financing Program investments have increased as the outlook for the domestic industry has improved, and the cost related to AIG has decreased by $2.9 billion as company prospects have improved.

In 2008, TARP was authorized $700 billion but the Treasury hasn't spent the entire amount. 

As recently as last August, the estimated cost of the program — aimed at restoring liquidity and stability to the financial markets — was $341 billion.

About $190 billion has been repaid of the initial $700 billion that was available for loans to financial institutions. 

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is trying to gradually wind down the use of TARP at the same time lawmakers are seeking to use the use of leftover funds for other purposes. 

"We still face a very challenging economic and financial environment, and we need to be careful to preserve substantial resources and flexibility to deal with future contingencies," Geithner said during a hearing this week on Capitol Hill.