Washington ? CIT Group Inc.’s board approved a deal late Sunday with major bondholders to keep the company out of bankruptcy with a $3 billion rescue loan, The New York Times reported.

The emergency financing is intended to give the ailing company time to restructure some of the billions of dollars in debt payments coming due this year, the Times reported, citing anonymous sources.

CIT representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.

CIT has been scrambling to raise $2 billion to $4 billion after the federal government refused to bail out the company. Rescue talks with government regulators broke off late Wednesday after days of round-the-clock negotiations.

Under the deal, CIT’s main bondholders would give the company $3 billion at an initial rate of 10.5 percent, the Times reported.

A bankruptcy filing would have threatened funding for scores of small businesses across the country. It also would have wiped out $2.3 billion in federal bailout money injected into the company in December.

The lender faces $7.4 billion in debt due in the first quarter of next year.