Harper: profitable companies won't pay us back

The Globe and Mail:

Taxpayers will be left on the hook for some of the $13.3-billion they provided to help bail out Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co. (GM-N 31.35 -0.46 -1.45%), Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says.

“At the end of the day, there’s not going to be full recovery of the taxpayers’ investments that were made back in 2008-2009 – in the sense of cash recovery,” Mr. Flaherty said Monday.

The governments provided $2.9-billion in loans to Chrysler, which has now repaid $1.7-billion. Chrysler paid $238-million in interest, while the remnants of its bankrupt predecessor company paid $6-million (U.S.) in interest.

That leaves $1.2-billion (Canadian) in loans outstanding, some of which could be recouped through the sale of the governments’ 1.7-per-cent stake in the equity of the company. Analysts estimate that stake is worth about $110-million.

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