GM pays $1.0 billion to the U.S. Treasury

General Motors Chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre Jr. said earlier this week that the Detroit automaker plans on paying all of its $6.7 billion in government loans by the end of June. Whitacre said today that GM paid the first quarterly installments today by writing a check for a total of $1.0 billion.

“I am pleased to announce that today, GM followed through on its commitment to begin loan repayments to the U.S. and Canadian and Ontario governments,” Whitacre said in a statement. “We paid $1.0 billion to the U.S. Treasury and $192 million to Export Development Canada.”

The automaker received a total of $52 billion from the U.S. government, of which $45.3 billion was converted into equity giving the Obama administration a 61 percent share.

“We are grateful for the support the governments have provided us,” Whitacre said. “We look forward to continuing repayments through June 2010, at which time the balances will be paid in full, assuming no downturn in the economy or business.”

– By: Stephen Calogera