Even as small businesses have applied for more than half of the $350 billion allotted for the Paycheck Protection Program — and all the funds…
Posts tagged as “ppp”
The American Bankers Association reported on April 12 that $205 billion of the $350 billion appropriated for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans has been claimed.
The administration is in a race against time, trying to provide families and businesses with enough money to survive the devastating economic plunge caused by the pandemic. Neither the White House nor the Treasury Department could say when asked late last week how much of the $2.2 trillion has actually reached needy Americans. Economists have said that the cash infusions will be crucial for sustaining the world’s largest economy.
Lenders face continued difficulties in issuing financing under the $349 billion small business relief effort the Trump administration launched a week ago in response to the coronavirus outbreak, leaving mom-and-pop firms at growing risk of failure.
Desperate small business owners who hoped for a quick government lifeline to help them survive the coronavirus crisis are still without funds, instead battling red tape, wary banks and swamped computer systems.
Banks are leery of ending up in regulatory or legal crosshairs down the road, so some are doing more due diligence than the stimulus program requires.
Small-business relief fund is shrinking; governors seek at least $500 billion for states to avoid service cuts
Demand for the loans appears to be so high that it has overwhelmed the Small Business Administration, even though Congress set aside billions of dollars to help the program make loans and grants.
First applicants are still waiting for funds, fueling anxiety among business owners
For companies in dire straits, the situation is increasingly untenable, and some members of Congress are finally starting to acknowledge that businesses will close forever if the chaos doesn’t end. Democratic senator Ron Wyden of Oregon today called for “cash assistance” to be included with the next package of coronavirus-related relief.