The government bought a piece of Chrysler in a 2009 bailout that turned out to be a costly investment in an automaker deemed too big to fail. Now that the government has sold its remaining interest in the company to Fiat, the U.S. Treasury Department announced the arrangement cost taxpayers $1.3 billion.

CNNMoney reports the Treasury assistant secretary for financial stability says he’s happy that the company was able to raise private capital to repay most of the government loan. Chrysler borrowed $12.5 billion from the government and paid back $11.2 billion before the sale. The government won’t collect any more of the debt.

Estimates say the total auto bailout lost $14 billion in government funds. Weighing that against the jobs that were saved and the stabilization of the industry, do you think the cost of the bailout was worthwhile?

U.S. loses $1.3 billion in exiting Chrysler [CNNMoney]

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