WASHINGTON (AP) — General Motors Co. will begin paying back $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans by the end of 2009 and could pay off that full amount as early as 2010, five years ahead of schedule, CEO Fritz Henderson said Monday.

The government debt represents about 13 percent of the $52 billion that U.S. taxpayers have invested in General Motors, the majority of which was exchanged for a 61 percent ownership stake in the company.

GM said Monday it lost $1.2 billion from the time it left bankruptcy protection through Sept. 30, showing better results than the auto company had reported in previous quarters and signaling the auto giant is beginning to rebound.

Under the plan to pay back the loans, the Detroit automaker will make quarterly payments of $1 billion to the U.S. government and $200 million to the Canadian government beginning in December. GM would be on track to pay off the $6.7 billion U.S. debt and a $1.4 billion debt to Canada by the middle of 2011, well ahead of a mid-2015 deadline to repay the two governments.