FILE PHOTO: A page of the PPP loan application that people must complete to obtain financial support due to the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is displayed on a desk in New York, United States, May 7 2020. REUTERS / Lucas Jackson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – United States President Donald Trump enacted an extension on Saturday to August 8 for small businesses to apply for aid loans under a federal aid program to help businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the White House said.
The Payroll Protection Program (PPP) extension, launched in April to keep Americans on the company’s payroll and out of unemployment assistance, gives business owners an additional five weeks to apply for financial assistance. fraught with problems.
An estimated $ 130 billion of the $ 659 billion provided by Congress is still at stake. Critics fear that the office of the US small business administrator, who administers the loan, may continue to experience challenges in the fair distribution of funds.
From the beginning, the unprecedented first-come, first-served program ran into technology issues and paperwork issues that led some companies to lose themselves while some wealthy companies raised funds.
The SBA inspector general discovered in May that some rural, minority and female businesses may not have received loans due to the agency’s lack of prioritization.
Reuters reported here Thursday that a technical failure in a United States government system caused many small businesses to receive loans two or more times, nearly a dozen people with knowledge of the matter said.
Report by Katanga Johnson; Editing by Mary Milliken and Chizu Nomiyama
.