DETROIT - General Motors Co. said it will make its second loan payment to the U.S. and Canadian governments on March 31 and reaffirmed a plan to pay back its loans by mid-year, Automotive News reported.

The automaker will shell out $1 billion to the U.S. Treasury on the way to paying back $6.7 billion. At the same time, GM will put $192 million toward paying off its Canadian loan, worth $1.4 billion U.S. The first payments, also at those amounts, were made in December.

“GM has every confidence that the remainder of the loans will be paid in full by June 2010, five years ahead of schedule,” CEO Ed Whitacre said Thursday in a statement.

GM was not required to make any payments on the loans before they matured in July 2015.

The repayment will come from leftover funds set aside by the Obama administration to finance GM's fast-track sale out of bankruptcy in July.

After the loan repayment, the U.S. government will still have a 61 percent equity stake in GM. The government is hoping to sell GM stock to recoup the $50 billion it gave GM to fund its restructuring.

Executives have said GM's initial public offering could come as early as this year.