Small Business Lending Program Not Popular

Washington, DC, April 1, 2011 -- The Obama administration's program to help small business lending has suffered from a lack of demand, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal.

Last fall the government, as part of the Small Business Jobs Act, created a $30 billion fund specifically to jump-start small business lending.

However, the Joural reported that only 7% of banks have participated in it.

About 526 community banks have requested $7.6 billion in funds from the program, which is available to the nation's nearly 7,700 lenders that have less than $10 billion in assets.

The Journal story cites several reasons for the lack of demand.