Washington  - Struggling US carmakers General Motors and Chrysler LLC have received another 5.5 billion dollars in emergency loans from the US government, according to an investigator's report released Tuesday.

GM has received 5 billion dollars, and Chrysler got 500 million dollars, keeping the two companies afloat until a government deadline nears for both of them to restructure or be forced into bankruptcy.

The emergency loans come on top of 17.5 billion dollars given to the two carmakers since December. US car sales have plummeted nearly 40 per cent since October amid the worst economic crisis in decades.

President Barack Obama has given Chrysler a May 1 deadline, while GM got an extra month to complete tough talks to cut its debt and labour costs, which are higher than foreign competitors, or lose the government's support.

The new loans were detailed in a report to Congress by Neil Barofsky, a special inspector general charged with monitoring the government's spending on the financial crisis. (dpa)