The U.S. Treasury Department has announced it intends to sell the rest of its shares of General Motors Co before 2014. The plan could leave taxpayers with a shortfall of approximately $10 billion on the automaker's 2009 bailout, according to Reuters.
Treasury said that it had completed a big sale, worth approximately 70.2 million shares of GM stock, this week and to date had recouped $38.4 billion from the $49.5 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of the Detroit automaker.
"Our goal was never to make a profit," said a Treasury official who requested anonymity. "It was to save the U.S. auto industry."
Treasury said the final sale would take place before the end of 2013, to "market conditions and if average daily trading volumes continue at recent levels," according to Reuters.
GM stock was up 3.2 percent at $38.90 in morning trading.
In a quarterly filing to Congress back in October, the U.S. government said it already had booked a loss of around $9.7 billion on the shares, according to Reuters. The shares were acquired as part of GM's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing and bailout.
Treasury's sale of the shares "could lead to the lifting of compensation limitations for GM's key executives," said Buckingham Research analyst Joseph Amaturo, according to Reuters.
The removal of those restrictions could allow GM to offer a more substantial compensation package if the board decides to look for outside candidates to take CEO Dan Akerson place.
"While the U.S. Treasury's equity stake draws to a close, our work to transform GM continues," GM said in a statement, according to Reuters. "We're making great progress in our efforts to make the most of this second chance."
Treasury had previously said it would be rid of its stock in GM by April 2014.
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