THANKS, W:

The government says it has already made a profit on the emergency funds injected into banks at the time of the financial-industry bailout, and the Fed has fully recouped money spent on acquiring toxic assets from troubled companies.

The Treasury, which invested $245 billion in more than 700 banks, has so far collected $264.7 billion from its bank programs.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, meanwhile, has fully recouped $72.7 billion in loans that were used to buy toxic assets, and has reaped gains of over $5.2 billion so far.

In coming months, the government is expected to sell or be repaid on securities with a total face value of roughly $29 billion, according to government officials and investors. The assets are likely to generate more than $10 billion for taxpayers. The government had purchased some of the securities below face value.

By stepping up its efforts and telegraphing that it aims to conduct bulk sales, the government may risk driving down prices. But prices for auctions in recent weeks have been strong, and many hedge funds and other investors have built large piles of cash to invest in these kinds of assets.

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