国际英语新闻：U.S. financial bailout chief resigns

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- A senior U.S. official who is in charge of the government's 700-billion-dollar financial bailout fund announced his resignation Wednesday.

Herb Allison, senior official of the Treasury Department responsible for the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, announced his intention to step down in a letter to the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Stability (OFS).

This announcement came just one day after U.S. President Barack Obama's chief economic advisor, director of the National Economic Council Lawrence H. Summers, announced his decision to return to Harvard University at the end of the year.

The bailout package, which was launched in October 2008 when the financial market was on the edge of collapse, was frequently criticized by Republicans as a waste of taxpayers' money. But Allison argued that the plan was successful in achieving its goal of stabilizing the nation's financial system.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement Wednesday that Tim Massad, who is currently the chief counsel and chief reporting officer for the bailout program, will be taking over as acting head.

While praising the work that the OFS has done to stabilize the financial system, Geithner recognized that "we have not yet repaired all the damage."