Obama to unveil automakers plan on Monday

President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday a much-anticipated plan on the future of ailing US automakers, his spokesman said Friday. "A task force is meeting today. They are finishing up the decisions that have to be made and put in place. The president will make an announcement on Monday," spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Obama's auto task force has been working to solve the woes of the "Big Three" US automakers which have been pushed to the brink of bankruptcy in the economic recession amid a global downturn in car sales. Two of the firms, GM and Chrysler, have asked for another 21.6 bn dollars in US aid on top of the 17.4 bn in emergency loans approved in December as they struggle to survive. Ford, the other in the trio, has said it has enough cash to survive the downturn without government aid. The New York Times reported on its website late Friday that the Obama administration was likely to extend more short-term aid to General Motors and Chrysler on Monday, but impose a strict deadline for bondholders and union workers to make concessions that would help the ailing automakers become viable businesses and avert bankruptcy.