Pay czar rulings to keep firms competitive: Geithner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that the U.S. pay czar's rulings for compensation at bailed out firms strikes a balance between cutting excessive pay and keeping strong management in place.

"We all share an interest in seeing these companies return taxpayer dollars as soon as possible and Ken today has helped bring that day a little bit closer," Geithner said in a statement about rulings by pay czar Kenneth Feinberg that are expected to be released on Thursday.

Feinberg is ordering sweeping pay cuts at the firms that have received exceptional taxpayer assistance during the financial crisis, which are: AIG (AIG.N), Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N), General Motors GM.UL, Chrysler, GMAC and Chrysler Financial.

"We gave him the difficult task of cutting excessive pay, striking a balance between compensation and risk taking, and keeping strong management teams in place to help the companies recover -- all in the public interest," Geithner said.

(Reporting by Karey Wutkowski and David Lawder, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)