Feds Now Say They’ll Disclose Names of Businesses That Received PPP Loans
In other economic news: Coronavirus pushing up debt levels; Black workers losing out on job gains; and studies suggest expansion of federal aid is helping to stem a rise in poverty.
The Washington Post:
SBA, Treasury Department Reverse Course On Loan Data After Pressure From Congress
The U.S. Small Business Administration and Treasury Department announced Friday that they would release a data set showing which businesses received many taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program loans, walking back an earlier stance that all of the business names would remain hidden because the Trump administration considered them proprietary. The disclosures will include the names of recipients who received loans of more than $150,000 and it will also reveal a dollar range for each loan, such as whether it was between $1 million and $2 million. Precise dollar amounts will not be disclosed, the Trump administration said. (Gregg and Stein, 6/19)
The Associated Press:
Watchdogs: Treasury Too Secretive On Small Business Loans
The Trump administration has relented to public pressure and pledged to provide more details about which small businesses received loans from a $600 billion-plus coronavirus aid program. But government watchdogs say even more transparency is needed to get an accurate picture of who was helped, and who was left out. Under pressure from Democratic lawmakers and government watchdogs, the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration said Friday they would disclose the names of small business owners who received $150,000 or more in forgivable loans. (D'Innocenzio, 6/21)
Reuters:
Coronavirus Doing Almost Double The Debt Damage As Financial Crash: Moody's
The coronavirus will push debt levels in the world’s richest nations up by almost 20 percentage points on average this year, credit rating agency Moody’s said on Monday, almost double the damage seen during the financial crash. A new report by Moody’s looked at 14 countries from the United States and Japan to Italy and Britain and assessed how coronavirus-induced economic slowdowns would scar their finances. (6/22)
Stateline:
Black Professionals Miss Out On Recent Job Gains
Black workers with bachelor’s degrees continued to lose jobs in May, even as the relaxing of coronavirus restrictions led to job gains for white professionals. White college graduates gained almost 900,000 jobs in the first sign of an economic recovery between April and May, while their black counterparts lost 200,000 jobs, according to a Stateline analysis of federal employment data. (Henderson, 6/22)
The New York Times:
Vast Federal Aid Has Capped Rise In Poverty, Studies Find
An unprecedented expansion of federal aid has prevented the rise in poverty that experts predicted this year when the coronavirus sent unemployment to the highest level since the Great Depression, two new studies suggest. The assistance could even cause official measures of poverty to fall. The studies carry important caveats. Many Americans have suffered hunger or other hardships amid long delays in receiving the assistance, and much of the aid is scheduled to expire next month. Millions of people have been excluded from receiving any help, especially undocumented migrants, who often have American children. (DeParle, 6/21)
