CBO: U.S. banks may need hundreds of billions more

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. financial rescue plan will probably need hundreds of billions of dollars in additional funds beyond what has already been approved for the Troubled Assets Relief Program, the head of the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday.

"I think the gap that remains in terms of the recapitalization needed by the banking system, exceeds the amount of money left in TARP, I think by a good margin," Doug Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee.

While some of this capital could come from the private sector, "the odds are that more money will be needed than has been authorized so far in the TARP, probably to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars," Elmendorf said.

He noted that lawmakers would have to decide whether to approve more money for the TARP, but "I think that will be presented to you" by the Obama administration