Today, the U.S. Small Business Administration reached a milestone in the success of the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program, which has provided U.S. small businesses, non-profits, and agricultural businesses a total of $200 billion in emergency funding.
“Following the enactment of COVID-19 emergency legislation, the SBA has now provided more than 3.7 million small businesses employing more than 20 million people with $200 billion through the unprecedented COVID-19 EIDL loan program,” Acting Administrator Tami Perriello said. “SBA remains committed to helping small businesses recover from the unprecedented economic effects of COVID-19.”
SBA is still accepting COVID-19 EIDL loan applications as the deadline to apply has been extended to Dec. 31, 2021. EIDL funding is used to pay fixed debts, payroll and expenses, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. This financial resource has allowed millions of small business owners across America to retain employees, continue operating and support their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans are just one piece of the expanded focus of the federal government’s coordinated response. The SBA is strongly committed to providing the most effective and customer-focused programs possible.
As a reminder, the loan portion of the COVID-19 EIDL program continues to have funds available at very affordable and flexible terms, with an automatic deferment of one year before monthly payments begin. Every eligible small business and non-profit is encouraged to visit sba.gov/coronavirusrelief to get more information about applying for EIDL and other economic recovery programs.