Administration Moving To Help Small Businesses

Washington, DC, March 16, 2009--President Barack Obama and his economic team are making billions in federal loans available to the nation's struggling small businesses.

Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday planned to announce a broad package that includes reduced small-business lending fees and an increase on the guarantee to some Small Business Administration loans.
Dealing with a severe recession, Obama has turned to a public face that emphasizes the potential for recovery instead of its limits.

The government plans to take aggressive steps to boost bank liquidity with more than $10 billion aimed at unfreezing the secondary credit market, according to officials.

"We know that small businesses are the engine of growth in the economy, and we absolutely want to do things to help them," said Christina Romer, who heads the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

"There are already a lot of things to help them in the recovery package, and some of what will be coming out are the things that were in the recovery package: increasing the SBA loan guarantees, lowering fees."