General Motors Corp. says its restructuring plan is starting to take hold, improving the automaker's fortunes at least to the point that it won't need a $2 billion government loan installment that it had requested for March.

Chief Financial Officer Ray Young said Thursday that GM formally told the Obama administration's autos task force on Wednesday that it wouldn't need the money this month. But in an interview with The Associated Press, Young would not say when the struggling automaker would need more government money or whether it will reduce the size of its loan request.

"It seems like our companywide cost reduction efforts are moving well, as well as we've been able to defer spending that we previously anticipated in January and February," Young said. "I think that's a positive development."

GM, which is living on $13.4 billion in government loans, has requested another $16.6 billion as it tries to weather the worst auto sales slump in 27 years.

Young said GM is continuing to calculate its cash balances and plans to update the task force when it may need more money.

"We're working through the forecast right now," he said. "We're not going to slow down in terms of our companywide cost reduction initiatives. We continue to look toward deferring expenditures as much as we can in order to avoid having to draw more liquidity."

Young's statements appeared to help GM's shares. They rose 24 cents, or 12.9 percent, to $2.10 in afternoon trading.