Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified Wednesday before the Senate Small Business Committee, acknowledging that coronavirus-induced unemployment remains too high and that more measures should be deployed to quicken economic recovery.
"We're open-minded, but we absolutely believe small businesses — and by the way, many big businesses in certain industries — are absolutely going to need more help," he said.
Mnuchin added that while he was "pleasantly surprised" the previously passed $670 billion Paycheck Protection Program helped tether people to their jobs and stymie long-term unemployment, more bipartisan legislation will be needed to inject money into the economy.
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From the secretary's perspective, the next stage should look a little different, however. Whereas the PPP was passed quickly and was fairly flexible, if unclear, about which businesses could receive loans, Mnuchin wants to specifically target industries that are having the greatest trouble re-opening going forward. Read more at Politico.
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