Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. (Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)
The Paycheck Protection Program has processed more than 4.2 million loans for more than $530 billion to keep tens of millions of Americans on payrolls, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told senators Tuesday. Lawmakers have allocated $669 billion for the program.
"We have issued more than 140 million Economic Impact Payments for over $240 billion to provide direct relief to millions of Americans," Mnuchin told members of the Senate Banking Committee. "The typical family of four received $3,400."
Treasury and the Small Business Administration have also distributed nearly $150 billion to states, local and tribal governments through the Coronavirus Relief Fund for essential services, Mnuchin said, and approved nearly $25 billion in payroll support to the airline industry.
Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell testified on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Senators grilled them on why much of the money provided by the law remains unspent.
Powell and Mnuchin's testimony on implementation of the CARES Act "underscored building bipartisan consensus" around support for state and local governments and adjustments to the PPP "and adds to the position that the Fed is poised to do whatever it can to support the market," Ed Mills, policy analyst for Raymond James, said in his Wednesday morning email briefing.
