Remaining TARP funds enough for small business plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration's new plan to boost small business lending by providing cheaper government capital to smaller banks can be achieved within the existing resources of the government's $700 billion financial bailout fund, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.

The official said the amount of capital to be made available to smaller institutions -- those with less than $1 billion in assets -- will likely be determined by year end through consultations with community bankers.

"These programs clearly can be done within the existing resources that are available, they are not dependent upon repayments," the official told a conference call.

The U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program has about $138 billion in committed resources out of an original $700 billion approved by Congress just over a year ago, according to estimates from the program's special inspector general.

(Reporting by David Lawder, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)