finance.yahoo.com
The $349 billion coronavirus loan program for small businesses is out of money after 13 days
Daniel RobertsEditor-at-Large
4-5 minutes
Captions will look like this
The SBA says more than 1.64 million applications were approved, totaling $349 billion in loans from more than 4,900 lending institutions.
has come from small or regional banks, with 9% of the funds coming from JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Many small-business owners had trouble navigating the application process, especially when going through big banks." data-reactid="18">It’s unclear how much of the $349 billion has actually been sent out the door to recipients—the SBA is not sharing disbursement figures, nor are the majority of banks—but by all accounts it is a very small portion so far. According to the website CovidLoanTracker.com, 84% of the PPP loan money that has been sent out has come from small or regional banks, with 9% of the funds coming from JPMorgan Chase (JPM). Many small-business owners had trouble navigating the application process, especially when going through big banks.
Now the attention will turn to those who didn’t get in the door yet and still need financial help: Will the government add more money to the program?
In a joint statement on Wednesday evening, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said, “The SBA has processed more than 14 years’ worth of loans in less than 14 days... We urge Congress to appropriate additional funds for the Paycheck Protection Program—a critical and overwhelmingly bipartisan program—at which point we will once again be able to process loan applications, issue loan numbers, and protect millions more paychecks.”
Portrait shot of business owner putting a closing down poster into a window during Covid 19 outbreak
“There is no time to insist on sweeping renegotiations or ultimatums,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is also among the prominent GOP voices to say that another $250 billion should be added to the PPP right away.
Good news on #PPP. @senatemajldr is working with @SenSchumer & hopes to approve additional funding by voice vote during the Senate’s pro forma session this week on Thursday 9 April.
We will need at least another $200-$250 billion for #PPPloan
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 7, 2020
“It's beyond me why we can't come together,” Michigan Sen. Gary Peters told Yahoo Finance’s Jessica Smith on Wednesday. “I don't know why the Republicans are opposed to helping hospitals and why they're opposed to helping state and local governments that are struggling right now... We want to make sure the money is definitely going to those businesses that need it the most.”
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Daniel Roberts is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
Read more on the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses:" data-reactid="39">Read more on the Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses:
cnbc.com
Small business rescue loan program hits $349 billion limit and is now out of money
Thomas Franck,Kate Rogers
4 minutes
A worker for an independent contractor to United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) makes deliveries on a street with closed stores in the Borough Park neighborhood in the Brooklyn borough of New York, April 7, 2020.
Stephanie Keith | Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Small Business Administration’s rescue loan program hit its $349 billion limit on Thursday and is now out of money as the nation’s top Republicans and Democrats struggle to agree on how to restore its funds.
The SBA website reads that it is “unable to accept new applications for the Paycheck Protection Program based on available appropriations funding. Similarly, we are unable to enroll new PPP lenders at this time.”
The announcement from the SBA on Thursday comes as scores of small American business owners work to deal with the fallout of the coronavirus and the move by some states to shutter the vast majority of commerce.
The first-come, first-served Paycheck Protection Program of $349 billion, approved by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump in March, had promised to assuage some of the financial burden for the nation’s smallest business owners.
Signs that the program was reaching critical capacity first came on Wednesday, when the SBA said the aid may be nearing a ceiling for loan commitments, with more than 1.3 million loans given approval at a value of more than $296 billion. By Wednesday evening, $315 billion had been approved, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC.
Staffers for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are expected to continue talks with the Treasury Department on Thursday, a senior Democratic aide told CNBC. Those discussions will follow a similar one Wednesday afternoon as the nation’s top Democrats and Republicans seek to hash out the new funding just a few weeks after Congress passed the historic $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief spending package.
Though lawmakers appear close to extending funds for the programs, the pace at which U.S. small businesses exhausted the initial $349 billion program likely speaks to the extent and severity state-imposed business closures are having on restaurants, gas stations and other mom and pop retailers across the country.
“Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy, employing 47% of all workers. In high-cost cities, the median small business has only enough cash to cover 2-3 weeks of expenses,” wrote Ron Temple, head of U.S. equity at Lazard Asset Management.
“It’s critical for both parties to recognize the unprecedented stress on small business and their employees from this crisis, and pass incremental funding as an urgent priority,” he added.
Senate Democrats last week blocked a move by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to push through an additional $250 billion for the program. Republicans then later rejected Democrats’ proposal that sought $250 billion in funds to small businesses, hospitals, states and food assistance programs.
A historic drop in retail sales in March, a 5 million jump in jobless claims and weaker manufacturing data released this week have all suggested the U.S. economy is likely already in a deep recession. Job losses in the food services and lodging industries, in particular, have led the U.S. economy to erase nearly all the job gains accrued in the last 11 years.
— CNBC’s Lauren Hirsch contributed reporting.
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