General Motors will file for bankruptcy today

The century-old automaker General Motors (GM) will file for bankruptcy today, according to a high official from the White House.

The US giant automaker wasn’t able to restructure its 27.2bn dollars debt, one of the conditions imposed by the US government to keep aiding GM.Washington provided GM with almost 20bn dollars since December, so it could keep its factories open. Now, the US government will aid GM with another 30bn dollars so the automaker can complete its restructuring.

After Obama, the GM CEO Fritz Henderson will give a news conference detailing the steps the company will take while it’s under bankruptcy laws and under judicial supervision.

Henderson will also announce the closing of 11 factories in the US, while three others will see their production temporarily suspended, as part of the reorganization plan, which will eliminate 21.000 jobs.