US$2 trillion rescue package to fight coronovirus

WASHINGTON: The Senate and White House have reached agreement on a US$2 trillion (RM8.7 trillion) stimulus package for the US economy and millions of Americans ravaged by the coronavirus crisis, top lawmakers said yesterday.

“At last, we have a deal,“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, hailing the massive “wartime level of investment into our nation” reached after five days of arduous and tense negotiations.

“We have a bipartisan agreement on the largest rescue package in American history,“top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said shortly after McConnell spoke.

“So many people are being put out of work through no fault of their own. They don’t know what their future is going to be like, how are they going to pay the bills,” Schumer added.

The Senate and House of Representatives still need to pass the legislation before sending it to President Donald Trump for his signature. McConnell said the Senate will vote on the measure.

The deal aims to buttress the teetering economy by giving roughly US$2 trillion to health facilities, businesses and ordinary Americans buckling under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure will put cash directly into the hands of Americans hard hit by the crisis, provides grants to small businesses and expands unemployment benefits. – AFP