The Treasury Department said on Friday that it would begin selling off its remaining 19 percent stake in General Motors, as part of the Obama administration’s plan to unwind its bailout of the automaker.
The department said in a statement that it had begun a prearranged trading plan that would eventually dispose of its 300.1 million shares by early next year. Earlier this week, The Treasury Department said that it had hired Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase to lead the sales of its stock holdings in G.M.
For the moment, the government will not emark upon a big block sale, but will instead sell smaller increments over time, depending on market conditions.
Last month, the Treasury Department sold 200 million shares back to G.M. for $5.5 billion, as the company sought to expedite the process of becoming a fully private enterprise once more.
The sale is expected to generate a loss for taxpayers of more than $12 billion. But government officials have argued that the G.M. bailout was aimed at saving millions of jobs, not turning a profit.
