SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — SBA Lending, Small Biz Lending Stalls

May 2, 2017

By Bob Coleman
Editor, SBA Hot Topic Tuesday

SBA Hot Topic Tuesday — SBA Lending, Small Biz Lending Stalls

Of all of the monthly and quarterly reports tracking small business lending and optimism, I believe the Thomson Reuters/PayNet Small Business Lending Index is one of the most accurate.

March’s report, released yesterday, says small business lending “stalled” in March, down 1% from last March.

Curious, I checked their results with SBA 7(a) loan volume. And, it’s “stalled.”

For the four weeks ending 2/26/17 SBA 7(a) loan volume totaled $1.6 billion, $100 million less than the same period last year.

Further number crunching reveals SBA 7(a) lending is only up 4% for the first five months of 2017, over 2016.
Concludes Bill Phelan, PayNet’s chief executive and founder.

“Bets that U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned tax cuts will boost corporate profits have lifted U.S. equities since his November election, but small businesses appear to be keeping their powder dry.

“They didn’t get sucked into all the euphoria of public markets; they are just, ‘Wake me up when we are there There’s not going to be any kind of enthusiasm.”