On the first day of the second round of Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) loans, applications for the loans more than doubled the number experienced during the first round of PPP rollouts.
Amid technical glitches on the website and concerns about beneficiaries, the program drew over 100,000 loan applications from 4,000 lenders by mid-afternoon, CNBC reported.
After depleting its initial funding of $349 billion in less than two weeks, the SBA received new funding of $310 billion, but with demand at the level the program is experiencing, those funds are expected to be used up quickly.
Juleanna Glover, a corporate adviser tracking the program, told the Houston Chronicle she expected a “flood of tens of thousands of applicants. Maybe millions. I'd be surprised if this next tranche lasts even 72 hours.”
“The original PPP doled out $349 billion to 1.66 million small businesses, working out to an average loan size of $206,000. Were that average to hold, it would mean that more than $20 billion of the new $322 billion is already spoken for,” Axios commented.
The increased number of applications has overwhelmed the E-Tran system, despite a pacing system the SBA put in place to stop lenders from posting thousands of applications at the same time. Carol Wilkerson, SBA press director, said, “If a lender goes above the pacing limit they will get timed out."
Lenders are raising questions about which companies are receiving the PPP money. The Los Angeles Lakers said they will return $4.6 million they received during the first round of PPP loans, noting, "Once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community."
The SBA noted that over $2 billion had been returned or declined by companies.
Amanda Ballantyne of the Main Street Alliance which represents small businesses said, “With funding likely to run out in 48 hours, it is ludicrous that Congress thinks it has already done its job supporting small businesses."
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