The government says it will provide a $1.5 billion loan to the auto financing arm of Chrysler LLC.

The Treasury Department says the new aid will be in addition to a package of loans provided to both Chrysler and General Motors Corp. last month in an effort to buy time for the two companies to reorganize.

The $1.5 billion loan to Chrysler Financial comes after the government provided similar support to GMAC, the auto financing arm for General Motors.