By Martin Crutsinger
The Federal Reserve announced Thursday that it was expanding a major lending program to provide support for businesses struggling to cope with the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Fed said that it was expanding the scope and eligibility of its Main Street Lending Program which is designed to provide up to $600 billion in loans to small and mid-size businesses that have been harmed by the pandemic and the efforts to contain it.
The Fed said it was allowing businesses with up to 15,000 employees and $5 billion in annual revenues to qualify for loans. That is up from earlier limit of 10,000 employees and $2.5 billion in revenue.
The minimum loan size is being reduced to $500,000, down from an original minimum loan size of $1 million.
This support program, one of many the Fed has unveiled over the past two months, is designed to provide businesses with loans of up to four years from banks at below-market interest rates. Unlike a separate program being run by the Small Business Administration, the loans from the Fed must be repaid but payments can be deferred for one year.
A federal survey found that 60% of Americans say they have a hard time obtaining a loan or morgtage as well as a credit card.
New federal data shows that household wealth in the U.S. has broken a record, reaching $154.3 trillion in the second quarter.
Tuesday is National Video Games Day. John Biggs, editor of Knapsack News and host of the 'Keep Going' podcast, joined Cheddar News to provide tips on how to save money on your favorite games.
Childcare centers were given funds during the pandemic to help them stay open but those funds are now expiring which could affect tens of thousands of centers. David Peters, CPA and founder of The David Peters Financial Group, joined Cheddar News to explain the changes that are coming and how to save on child care.
'The Little Mermaid' got 16 million views on Disney+ so far after being released earlier this month.
McDonald's said it would eliminate self-serve soda machines by 2032.
Online prices just saw their biggest drop in three years, according to new data.
U.S. small business sentiment dropped in August, for the first time since April.
Bloomingdale's named Olivier Bron its new chief executive, replacing Tony Spring, who will become CEO of Macy's.
Apple's 'Wonderlust' event will kick off Tuesday to showcase its newest products, including the iPhone 15 while Google is facing a federal antitrust lawsuit. Meanwhile, TikTok is rolling out ecommerce on its app.
