WASHINGTON - The US Treasury has 134.6 billion US dollars remaining from a 700-billion-US-dollar emergency programme passed by Congress last year to stabilize the financial system, Secretary Timothy Geithner said Tuesday.

In a letter to the Congressional Oversight Panel, Geithner said the administration of George W. Bush had already committed US$355.4 billion before President Barack Obama took office.

He said Treasury officials estimate there is "at least 109.6 billion dollars" still available, and that some US$25 billion will be paid back over the next year from capital injected into commercial banks, making a total of US$134.6 billion.

The comments were made in a letter to the congressional panel established to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The US$355.4 billion allocated by the Bush administration included special aid to insurance giant AIG, ailing banks including Citigroup and Bank of America and the struggling automobile industry.

The head of the panel, Elizabeth Warren, said that the effectiveness of the programme was still being assessed but that public discontent is significant.

"People are angry because they are paying for programmes that haven't been fully explained and that have no apparent benefit for their families or the economy as a whole, but seem to leave enough cash in the system for lavish bonuses and golf outings," she said.

- AFP/ir