Troubled U.S. automakers may be eligible for help under the $700 billion economic rescue package and have discussed the issue with the U.S. Treasury Department, the White House said Oct. 27.
Spokeswoman Dana Perino said that the battered auto giants' financing arms "could qualify" and said "that's one of the reasons Treasury has been in contact with them. It's possible that some of those financing arms could be a part of the rescue package, the TARP, as they call it, at the Treasury Department."
Automakers were also offered a $25 billion shot in the arm by Washington in late September when legislators agreed to cover the cost of insuring a massive loan from the Energy Department. "We're working as quickly as we possibly can to get those regulations finalized to be able to provide that," said Perino.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2008
