New York - General Motors (GM) hopes to pay off its debt to the US government by the end of the year, said the company's chairman in a speech Tuesday night, reported the New York Times.

Edward E Whitacre told listeners at a Texas university that it hopes to repay 6.7 billion dollars in debt to the government by the end of the year. Doing so would speed the way toward the company's return to public trading.

There is a sense of urgency at GM to repay the money we owe as soon as possible," he said.

Later, while answering questions from audience members, he said, Can GM pay back its loans? You bet. I cant tell you when, but it wont be very long and its sooner than you think."

Repaying the 6.7 billion dollars would still leave the government holding 50 billion dollars in GM stock, which it would likely try to sell once the stock price revives. But the repayment would not include a 1-billion-dollar loan to a part of GM that has been hived off from the main company and remains in bankruptcy, reported the paper.

Whitacre said the company would not be able to go public until "we become profitable." He would not give a precise date.

The company is expected to release its latest financial data later this month. (dpa)