WASHINGTON -- The Small Business Administration said the latest version of the Troubled Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility could go far in unfreezing secondary markets.
"If we want to thaw the credit markets for small businesses, we absolutely have to get the secondary market for small business loans moving again. TALF is a critical element in doing that," said Acting SBA Administrator Darryl Hairston.
Earlier this year, the SBA added the one-month LIBOR rate as an alternative base interest rate lenders can use on the agency's backed loans and introduced a weighted average coupon pools for SBA securities sold in secondary markets, all in an effort to get credit markets moving again.
"SBA supports [the TALF] program and we're glad [it] is moving forward with some changes we asked for that will make SBA lending more attractive for 7(a) and 504 program lenders," Hairston said.
The agency said it will continue to work closely with the Federal Reserve and the Department of the Treasury to move TALF forward.
