Predominately black congressional districts got fewer PPP loans: study

[July 30, 2020]  By Imani Moise

(Reuters) - Congressional districts with the highest black populations received up to $13 billion dollars less in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funding than districts with the lowest percent of black residents, a new study shows.

The 10 congressional districts with the lowest black populations got over 64,000 more PPP loans than the 10 districts with the most black residents, analysis of federal data by advocacy group Accountable.US found. The predominately black districts got as much as $23 billion in funding as of July 20th compared with $36 billion for the non-black districts.

The $600 billion government stimulus program was meant to bail out small businesses that have been slammed by mandatory shutdowns to stem the coronavirus outbreak and by reduced spending by consumers. As Congress debates the details of a new round of stimulus, more entrepreneurs are considering shuttering permanently against an increasingly uncertain economic backdrop.

Black-owned small businesses, which are highly concentrated in retail, restaurants and other service industries most affected by shutdowns, are expected to shutter at twice the rate of small businesses overall.

(Reporting by Imani Moise; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)

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