The US Treasury said Wednesday the government’s massive response to the economic crisis five years ago paid off, avoiding a catastrophic breakdown of the financial system.

In a report marking the anniversary of the bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers - which snowballed into the worst crisis since the 1930s - the Treasury defended deploying hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to save other banks, major financial institutions and auto companies.

‘Without the government’s forceful response, that damage would have been far worse, and the ultimate cost to repair the damage would have been far higher,