The small business loan program's second round of funding is expected to run out in 72 hours or less

small business.
(Image credit: JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

The next phase of the federal government loan program known as the Paycheck Protection Program, created to help out small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic, launches on Monday, and analysts expect the $310 billion in funds to evaporate even more quickly than the first round, The Washington Post reports.

"Once the application portal reopens, there will be an immediate flood of tens of thousands of applicants. Maybe millions," said Juleanna Glover, a Washington, D.C.-based corporate public affairs adviser tracking the program. "I'd be surprised if this next tranche lasts even 72 hours."

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.