The Obama Administration is preparing to steer General Motors into bankruptcy next week.

Under the draft bankruptcy plan, the company would receive just short of $30 billion (£19 billion) in additional federal loans, as it seeks to shrink and re-emerge as a global competitor, The Washington Post reported.

The figure is a starting point in negotiations between the Government and GM and could change, as could the timing of a bankruptcy filing.

A cash injection that large would boost the Government's investment in GM to nearly $45 billion.

The Administration has already indicated that it plans to take at least 50 per cent of the restructured company and would probably assume the right to name GM directors, the newspaper said.

The move comes as the Administration prepares to move another troubled US car manufacturer, Chrysler, away from bankruptcy protection as early as next week

If GM files for bankruptcy, as widely expected, its healthy assets will be quickly sold to a new company owned by the US Government, a source told Reuters.

The Government would pay for the assets by assuming the carmaker's $6 billion of secured debt and forgiving the bulk of the $15.4 billion of emergency loans that the US Treasury has provided to GM, the source said.

The task force overseeing the restructuring of GM and Chrysler has given GM until June 1 to prove that it can be viable without government aid or face probable bankruptcy.

The company reached a sweeping deal with the United Auto Workers union yesterday and has given its bondholders until next Tuesday to agree to a plan that would reduce its debt.

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