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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Sunday that the Federal Reserve will play a key role in lending funds to businesses hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Working with the Federal Reserve — we’ll have up to $4 trillion of liquidity that we can use to support the economy,” Mnuchin told Fox News on Sunday.
“Those are broad-based lending programs. … We can leverage our equity working with the Federal Reserve,” he said.
The Treasury secretary said the plan is broad-based to help small and large businesses “get through the next 90 to 120 days,” he said.
Bloomberg News Steven Mnuchin at a G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Whistler, British Columbia, in 2018.
Mnuchin said he thought the bill would be finished Sunday and ready for a vote on the Senate floor on Monday.
The bill would also include:
• Small-business retention loans aimed at helping companies keep workers on their payrolls. This will cover about half the workforce, Mnuchin said. Payments will include two weeks’ worth of cash flow and some overhead. The loans will be forgiven if workers are not laid off.
• Checks for Americans. The average check for a family of four will be $3,000, the Treasury secretary said.
• Enhanced unemployment insurance for people who are laid off due to the pandemic.
Mnuchin said that if the virtual shutdown of the American economy lasts longer than expected, Congress would pass another rescue package.
