Federal Reserve expands access to loan program

The Federal Reserve sharply reduced the minimum loan size in its Main Street Lending Program, potentially opening it to more U.S. businesses at a time when Congress remains deadlocked on additional aid.

By lowering the minimum loan size to $100,000 from $250,000, the Fed on Friday was responding to widespread calls to make Main Street easier to access for small businesses battling to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

It also changed the fee structure so banks will get paid more for facilitating loans under $250,000. Businesses that received under $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans will now be eligible for the Fed’s program. All five members of the Board of Governors voted to approve the changes.

The Fed’s announcement came at the end of a tumultuous week in markets and the global economy as virus cases surge in parts of the U.S. and Europe, darkening the outlook for the pace of the recovery. Congress and the White House have been unable to pass further stimulus measures ahead of next week’s presidential election, leaving businesses and unemployed Americans without added support as the country fights another wave of infections.

The adjustments to Main Street come after months of talks between Congress and the White House that ultimately failed to deliver more fiscal stimulus. Lawmakers, business owners and industry groups have called for changes such as reducing the minimum loan size and further incentive for banks to provide support for small businesses.

The Fed said it has bought almost 400 Main Street loans, or $3.7 billion, which represents just 0.6 percent of the potential $600 billion it could lend under the program. Chair Jerome Powell has argued that businesses may need grants, not loans, to get through the lengthy pandemic. But the PPP program, whose loans turned into grants if companies use a certain amount of the funds for payroll retention, expired in August.

In order to encourage banks to make loans under $250,000, the Fed got rid of the 100 basis-point transaction fee — which lenders will still pay to the central bank on larger loans — raised the loan origination fee that lenders charge borrowers and increased the servicing expense that the Fed pays to the banks. Other program provisions, including banks’ retention of 5 percent of each loan that they sell to the Fed, remain unchanged.

Businesses can exclude PPP debt under $2 million, as long as it’s expected to be forgiven under the Small Business Administration’s payroll provisions, from calculations of their eligibility to apply for a Main Street loan.

The Main Street program, which has been changed several times and was only fully operational in July, is set to expire Dec. 31.