General Electric Co. plans to buy back as much as $5 billion ofbonds as the manufacturer seeks to cut its debt load as part of itsturnaround. The repurchase will cover up to $2.5 billion of dollardebt and the equivalent of $2.5 billion (2.28 billion euros) ofeuro-denominated notes, GE said in a statement Thursday. Thecompany said it wouldn't expand the size of the buyback plan.

Reducing debt is a cornerstone of CEO Larry Culp's attempt tooverhaul GE after one of the worst slumps in the company's 127-yearhistory. Since taking the helm last year, Culp has been pruningoperations to focus on making jet engines, power equipment, andmedical scanners while tackling more than $100 billion inborrowing.

"We're doing what we said we'd do," Culp said at a MorganStanley conference Thursday. "The reset year thus far here in earlySeptember is playing out fundamentally in line with what weanticipated, but we know we have a lot more to do both with respectto the balance sheet and the way we run the business."