A deadline for COVID-era recovery loans lapsed on Friday, with questions lingering about how much funding is available to help backstop small businesses hunkering down as the Omicron variant surges across the economy, YahooFinance.com reported. Small business owners had until Friday to apply for the regular Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Targeted EIDL Advance program. However, the Small Business Association (SBA) didn’t clarify how much remains in those funds. A representative told Yahoo Finance that the agency will continue to process applications after the December 31st deadline, including reconsiderations, but will not accept new applications after that. The SBA has made strides in distributing funds to small businesses across the county, following heavy criticism in 2020 when applicants faced long delays, confusing procedures and communication lapses. Thus far, the SBA has doled out nearly 4 million loans under the program for a total of $316.6 billion as of December 23, according to SBA data. The SBA has also funded over 547,000 Targeted EIDL Advances for about $4.7 billion. Still, it's unclear how much money remains in funding for all COVID-19 EIDL programs. This week, the Business Journal reported that the agency has $11.8 billion remaining, but a SBA spokesperson could not confirm that number to Yahoo Finance, and declined to provide a specific figure.
