Economics
Fed Has Used Only a Fraction of Main Street Lending Facility
- Central bank has up to $600 billion capacity for small firms
- Loan demand could still rise if pandemic worsens, Fed says
Traffic passes the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve building in Washington, D.C.
Photographer: Erin Scott/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Federal Reserve has used only a fraction of the $600 billion in an emergency lending program for small and medium businesses struggling with the Covid pandemic, according to a congressional watchdog report.
Eligible lenders participating in the Main Street program have issued $496.8 million in loans, of which $472 million is Federal Reserve money, or about 0.07% of the central bank’s lending capacity as of Wednesday, according to the report issued Friday.