Federal Reserve to boost small business lending efforts

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve said in a brief announcement that it would support the government's $349 billion small business lending program, which had a rocky start Friday.

The Fed said Monday that it will purchase loans that banks make to small businesses as part of the program, which is carried out by banks and the Small Business Administration and was set up under the $2.2 trillion economic relief package. The loans can be forgiven if they are spent on payroll, to encourage firms to keep paying their employees or rehire workers they may have recently laid off.

By purchasing the loans, the Fed would create an incentive for the banks to engage in more lending. Buying the loans should free up more cash for banks to lend. Otherwise, when banks make a loan, they are typically required to hold some cash in reserve in the case of default.

The Fed's two-sentence announcement said that further details will be provided this week.

Joseph Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, an advisory firm that works with medium-sized companies, said the Fed's move is intended to encourage more banks to participate because many are reluctant to lend to small companies.

“This should help ... reverse risk aversion among potential lenders to provide bridge financing for small firms that otherwise would likely not survive the first phase of the crisis,” Brusuelas said.

The Independent Community Bankers of America, in a letter Saturday, urged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to work with the Fed to set up a purchase program for the small business loans. By taking loans off bank balance sheets, they argued that it would make it easier for smaller banks to participate.

“This program should not be limited by the balance sheet capacity of participating lenders,” Rebecca Romero...