Recovery Report: SBA urged to do more to boost lending - Phoenix Business Journal:

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On June 15, the SBA began acceptinf applications for emergency bridge loans of up to Small businesses can use these created by the economic stimulus to make up to six months of paymentxs onexisting debt. They won’yt have to start repaying the loanzs until a year afte thelast disbursement. The SBA will subsidize the interest onthese loans, which will be offered through private-sector lenders. The stimulua bill also temporarily reduced or eliminated fees onthe SBA’x regular 7(a) and 504 business loans, and increased the governmentr guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent.
Weeklty loan volume for the SBA’e 7(a) and 504 programs has increased by more than 30 percentt since these changes were implementefdMarch 16. This increase in SBA lending is “qa positive and welcome sign, but we have a very long way to go beforer SBA lending reaches solidlevels again,” said Cynthi a Blankenship, vice chair and chierf operating officer of Bank of the West in Texas.