U.S. President Joe Biden will announce that he will make changes on Monday in the Covid-19 assistance package for small businesses that have not received attention in the past.
Biden administration officials said that starting this Wednesday, the small business administration will receive loan protection program (PPP) loan applications for companies that have less than 20 employees within 2 weeks. This initiative is to ensure that small companies are also protected.
PPP was first launched in April 2020 during the peak of the 'lockdown' measure. At the time, the PPP was placed under a $ 3 trillion Covid-19 aid package. The initial phase of $ 349 billion was spent within two weeks, then congress approved another $ 320 billion in May. However, the program ended in August with the remaining 130 million dollars in funds.
The program was re-launched on January 19 with a new $ 284 billion fund after being approved at the end of December 2020. Based on a study conducted, the Biden administration found that many small companies have not yet received assistance.
The change is intended to make it easier for companies that do not have employees, self-employed or independent contractors to receive assistance. The official said that the program will also allocate $ 1 billion for businesses that do not have employees in low- and middle-income areas.
The US dollar index is currently trading at the 90.198 exchange rate, down 0.18% against major currencies.
