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U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, battling the deepest credit crisis in decades, will lose another domestic finance aide this week as the Bush administration approaches the end of its term.

Matthew Abbott, the deputy assistant secretary for federal finance, will serve his last day on Aug. 20, Treasury spokeswoman Jennifer Zuccarelli told Bloomberg News today. Abbott is leaving for a job in the private sector, she said, without being more specific.

Abbott oversaw the Office of Federal Finance, which develops, analyzes and coordinates policies on debt management and financial-market regulation. He “recused himself and followed ethics guidelines'' when pursuing the post outside government, Zuccarelli said.

His departure will create another gap in Treasury's domestic finance team as it tries to cushion the economy from the collapse of the mortgage market and $503 billion in losses at major financial institutions since the beginning of 2007. Paulson lost his senior domestic finance adviser last month, when Robert Steel stepped down to become chief executive officer of Wachovia Corp.

Steel, a former undersecretary, was vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. from 2002 until 2004. Assistant secretary Anthony Ryan now holds Steel's Treasury post in an acting capacity.

Even after the departures, Zuccarelli said the Treasury isn't concerned about a staffing shortage before January 2009, when the next administration will take office faxless cash advance.

`Until the End'

“Secretary Paulson has built a strong team of professionals at Treasury who plan to stay with him until the end,'' she said.

This month Paulson, former chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs, recruited as a Treasury adviser Kendrick Wilson, a former Goldman Sachs executive who spent more than two decades counseling U.S. banks. He is serving as a Treasury contractor.

Abbott has held his current position since November 2006. He previously served as a senior adviser to the undersecretary for domestic finance. He worked in the fixed income division of Credit Suisse First Boston from 1999 to 2004, according to his official Treasury biography.

Abbott earned his undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross in 1993, followed by a master's in business administration from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management in 1999. Before entering graduate school, he served in the airborne 10th Special Forces Group, Treasury said.

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