GE announced today that the Board of Directors of GE Capital Corporation (GECC) had approved plans for GECC to pay $6.5 billion in dividends in 2013 to GE. Earnings-dividend payments, which are subject to GECC Board and GE Board Risk Committee approvals, are planned at 30% of GECC’s total 2013 earnings. GECC paid the first-quarter earnings-dividend of $447 million to GE on April 19, 2013. In addition, GECC plans $4.5 billion in special dividends to GE in 2013, subject to the same approvals.

“This announcement is consistent with our goal to reduce the overall size of GE Capital and for it to return significant cash to GE,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. In the first quarter of 2013, GE Capital grew its earnings 9% while ENI (excluding cash and equivalents) declined 7% to $402 billion. GECC ended the quarter with $68 billion in cash, and its Tier 1 common ratio under Basel 1 improved by 65 basis points to 11.1%.

Under its balanced capital allocation plan of investing for its long-term growth, maintaining an attractive dividend pay-out and repurchasing stock, GE plans to return $18 billion cash to its shareholders in 2013, including repurchase of $10 billion of stock.