Auto giant General Motors said Friday that it had started repaying the loans it received from the US and the Canadian government at the peak of economic crisis last year.

GM made the first payment on Friday, returning $1 billion to the US Treasury and $192 million to the Canada.

Speaking on the issue, GM's chief executive Ed 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."

The US government injected more than $50 billion, with $6.7 billion out of that in loans, into GM to help it emerge out of recession. In return, the US Government owned a 60 per cent stake in the automaker.

Now GM owes $5.7 billion to the US Government, while $1.2 billion to the Canada. The remaining $45.3 billion it owes to the US government could be retuned when it sells stock.