Chrysler repays $7.6B in government loans

Posted: 1:18 pm Tue, May 24, 2011
By Associated Press

DETROIT — Chrysler has eliminated most of its bailout IOU by paying off $7.6 billion in loans to the U.S. and Canadian governments.

The company repaid the money on Tuesday and plans to celebrate with government officials at a factory near Detroit.

Chrysler took $10.5 billion from the U.S. government to survive two years ago. It repaid some of the money last year and on Tuesday paid off a $5.9 billion balance. It also paid $1.7 billion to the governments of Canada and Ontario. About $2 billion of the government aid remains unpaid.

The company is able to make the repayment after selling bonds and taking out lower-interest bank loans last week.

The U.S. government still owns 8.6 percent of Chrysler, which it got in exchange for the bailout.