-
The Small Business Lending Fund is projected to generate an $80 million profit, rather than the $1.3 billion cost initially estimated, according to a Treasury Department report.
February 2 -
A Treasury Department report released this week showed that nearly 80% of participants in the Small Business Lending Fund have increased small business lending over average lending levels reported prior to the program's passage.
January 11
WASHINGTON — Participants in the Small Business Lending Fund increased small business lending by $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, a 37% increase from the previous quarter, the Treasury Department said Monday.
To date, banks participating in SBLF have increased lending $4.8 billion over baseline levels — the average lending reported in the four quarters prior to the program's enactment. More than 68% of the program's 332 participants have increased lending by at least 10%, according to Treasury's latest report to Congress released Monday on the use of SBLF funds.
"The loans the participating institutions make mark important progress toward helping to support small businesses and local economies across the nation," Don Graves, Treasury's deputy assistant secretary for small business, community development and housing policy, said in a blog post on the Treasury website Monday.
SBLF participants also increased small business lending by a median of 21.5% over baseline levels, compared to a 1.1% median increase for comparable banks who are not in the program, Graves said.
The program was enacted in September 2010 as part of the Small Business Jobs Act, which allocated $30 billion in capital for eligible community banks, credit unions and community development financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets.
Critics have complained that Treasury took too long to get the program off the ground, limiting its effectiveness, and that it only distributed a fraction of the funds - about $4.6 billion - authorized by Congress.
