GM borrows $4 b more

The latest emergency funds extended by the Obama administration take the total government funding to keep GM afloat since the start of the year to $19.4 billion.

GM said it expected that total to rise to $27 billion after June 1, a government-imposed deadline for the embattled automaker to achieve a sweeping restructuring analysts say will require bankruptcy to complete.

Tentative plan

The tentative agreement with the Canadian Auto Workers union, if ratified, would reduce hourly compensation costs by about 28 per cent after including a round of concessions the union agreed to give in March.

GM faces a June 1 deadline to restructure its debt and operations and has said it could file for bankruptcy if it fails to get bondholders to agree to forgive some $24 billion — or 90 per cent — of the amount they are owed.