U.S. Treasury says $18.6 bln investment in crisis fund repaid

WASHINGTON Jan 30 (Reuters) - Funds used for an emergency U.S. Treasury program aimed at spurring investment in mortgage assets at the height of the financial crisis have been fully repaid, the department said on Wednesday.

The Treasury's Public-Private Investment Partnership, which then Secretary Timothy Geithner once hoped might reach $1 trillion, failed to reach $30 billion in total purchasing power.

But the Treasury has recovered its original investment of $18.6 billion in the program, the government said.