Small Business Administration spokeswoman Carol Wilkerson said Tuesday afternoon that there have been more than 275,000 applications received for Paycheck Protection Program loans valued at $75 billion since the program launched.

The loans of up to $10 million to business owners and freelancers are intended to help companies retain workers or rehire those laid off as businesses shut down across the country. Nearly 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in the last two weeks of March, many of them let go by restaurants and retailers.

Many owners were also waiting to hear whether they’d get economic injury disaster loans, separate from the paycheck loans. Those loans can take weeks to process, but the government had promised that companies could get $10,000 grants within days of applying.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had predicted last week that loans could be turned around and money transferred to businesses’ bank accounts the same day as applications were received. However, delays have beset the program’s rollout. The SBA’s loan processing system stopped working Monday, making it impossible for loans to be approved and funds distributed, according to a trade group for community bankers and the CEO of an online lending marketplace. And there was confusion about the documents lenders needed from customers to complete loan transactions, they said.

“We are getting thousands of applications but many of our members can’t get into the SBA’s system or there are additional holdups,” said Paul Merski at the Independent Community Bankers of America.

Mnuchin said Tuesday the Trump administration would ask Congress for an additional $250 billion for the program. When the program was announced, Mnuchin said Treasury would ask Congress for more if it was needed.

275K PPP Applications Worth $75B Filed So far

by The Associated Press time to read: 1 min
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