The Federal Reserve will announce details this week on a lending program for midsize businesses hurt by the coronavirus, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said.
Congress directed the Fed to create the so-called Main Street lending program as part of a $2.2 trillion economic rescue package, signed into law last month.
The lending facility is for companies with more than 500 employees that are disqualified from the new Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses and too small for federal loans reserved for larger companies.
“We’ve been actively working on this for the last week, having daily calls with the Fed,” Mnuchin told CNBC on Wednesday. “We hope to have an announcement this week with the details on that and get it up and running as soon as we can.”
Mnuchin previously has said the legislation unlocks as much as $4 trillion of liquidity for the market. The programs are backed by an additional $425 billion for Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund.
The Fed announced the Main Street program on March 23, complementing programs announced by the Small Business Administration. Since then, official have said that it remains in the design phase though they are working hard to stand it up. Boston Fed chief Eric Rosengren said on April 1 it was likely “another couple” of weeks away.
