Treasury names rescue program chief

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Treasury on Monday named Assistant Secretary for International Economics and Development, Neel Kashkari, as head of the $700 billion government program that will buy soured investments to help restore the financial markets to health.

Kashkari was named as the interim Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability - a role envisioned in the rescue plan that was signed into law by President George W. Bush last week.

Kashkari is a veteran banker from Goldman Sachs and joined the Treasury in July 2006 as a senior advisor to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)