Economics
Powell Hints Small Business, Unemployment Aid Most Important
- Fed chair questioned on priorities if some funds reallocated
- About $200 billion for Fed programs unallocated by Treasury
Jerome Powell adjusts his glasses during a Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., on Sept 24.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images/Bloomberg
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Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that aid to small businesses and support for the unemployed should be prioritized if Congress were to reallocate money away from backstopping the central bank’s emergency-lending programs.
Powell, responding during Congressional testimony to a question from Louisiana Republican John Kennedy, said an expansion of the Paycheck Protection Program and “something more” for Americans who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic would have the greatest economic impact.