WASHINGTON, DC – The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll and was part of the CARES program passed by Congress in response to the coronavirus economic shutdown. The program is administered through the Small Business Administration (SBA) and loans may be forgiven if borrowers meet all employee retention criteria, and the funds are used for eligible expenses. Any loans that are not forgiven must be paid back to the lender at a low-interest rate and without any fees. Though farmers and ranchers are usually excluded from SBA programs, the PPP program was made available to those in agriculture and many agribusinesses were able to apply for and receive funding. In all the SBA approved 5,212,128 loans totaling $525 billion, with an average loan size of $100,729. As of Monday, SBA had received more than 595,000 loan forgiveness applications totaling $83 billion but has only approved 367,000 requests representing $38 billion.
(SOURCE: All Ag News)