Insightful WSJ piece today on the Paycheck.......>

US: Insightful WSJ piece today on the Paycheck Protection Program:

- Many small businesses took PPP funds as early as April and "prioritized speed

over efficacy" on bringing employees back to work and other measures, as they

had to use the funds within 8 weeks to qualify for loan forgiveness.

- But with the money now spent, lockdowns returning to some parts of the

country, and the PPP rules relaxed by Congress on June 3, "some are finding they

would have been better off had they not followed the program's original

requirements in an effort to make sure their loans would be forgiven and instead

gambled that the rules would change".

- Under the new rules, businesses have 24 weeks to use the funds, and can use

60% rather than 75% of the loan on payroll expenses and still qualify for

forgiveness. But by the time Congress passed the new rules, 4.5mln loans

totaling $511bln had already been approved and much of it spent.

- The upshot: some businesses that stuck to the 8-week spending rule are now

cutting back expenditures, laying off workers etc.