WASHINGTON -- President Bush announced today a proposed fiscal year 2009 budget for the Small Business Administration that would authorize $17.5 billion for the 7(a) guaranteed loan program and $7.5 billion for the 504 or Certified Development Company program.
The President proposed $657 million in new budget authority for SBA in FY 2009, a 15.5% increase over the FY 2008 enacted level and a 6% increase in core operating budget over FY 2008, according to SBA. Including anticipated carryover funds for disaster lending and other revenues, the total spending package for the year would be $819 million.
That budget level provides funding for more than $1 billion in loans in the agency's disaster assistance program, which has undergone several changes since the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, according to SBA.
The SBA is also proposing a zero-subsidy Microloan program, which it said would expand its support to microlenders across the country. By raising the rate at which intermediaries borrow from as low as 2% below the five-year Treasury rate to 1.3% above the FY 2009 five-year Treasury rate, the agency said it can eliminate the subsidy cost of this program.
Nearly 400 credit unions are SBA lenders.
