Kashkari to quit as head of US bank rescue programme: report

29 April 2009

Former NASA engineer and Goldman Sachs executive, Neel T Kashkari, the interim assistant secretary for financial stability in the US Treasury who heads the $700-billion troubled financial assets programme, is likely to call it a day on Friday, The Washington Post reported.

Kashkari was appointed as the interim head of  the new Office of Financial Stability (See: Indian American Neel Kashkari to oversee US bailout plan) in October to oversee the US Congress-approved $700-billion bailout programme to assist distressed banks (See: US Senate bails out markets – passes $700-billion package) 

Kashkari, 35, has been credited with helping to keep the country out of a complete financial meltdown, but he has also taken the brunt of Congress' criticism of the bailout programme.

Like his mentor Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Kashkari, too, has been criticised for trying to bail out Wall Street rather than the country's big banks.

The $700 -illion bank bailout programme, despite sucking huge funds from the Treasury, has not met with much success. Banks like Citigroup and Bank of America, which have received massive sums from the Treasury, are still to find their moorings.

While Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis is widely believed to be on on the way out Citigroup CEO is also rumoured to be at the receiving end.