WASHINGTON — Senior officials from the Small Business Administration, White House, and the Department of the Treasury met yesterday with executives from major national banks to discuss small business credit in the current economy.

The roundtable was led by SBA Administrator Steve Preston and included a cross section of major lenders and senior policy makers, according to SBA. The officials briefed attendees on the recently passed stimulus package and the administration's perspective on the economy and small business. After that discussion, bank officials shared their individual perspectives. SBA did not provide the names of the banks involved.

“We know affordable credit is the lifeline of any business, and we also know banks have been tightening their credit standards,” Preston said. “So we brought this group together to look at the big picture and discuss how we can keep help small business credit flowing.”

The roundtable is part of a larger SBA initiative currently underway to reach out to banks on the state of small business credit. Previous sessions have already occurred in New York, Denver, and Atlanta, and SBA said it plans to continue “listening sessions” in cities across the nation over the next 45 days.