US Congress passes $484bn economic relief bill

The United States House of Representatives on Thursday voted 388 to 5 to approve legislation aimed at providing $484bn for small businesses, hospitals and a national COVID-19 testing strategy.

The bill was approved unanimously by the US Senate on Tuesday after bipartisan negotiations with the White House, and will now go to US President Donald Trump for his signature. Trump is expected to sign the bill quickly.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is ravaging America. Small businesses are shuttered. Thousands have died. Millions of Americans are unemployed. Rome is burning. We can either put out the fire or watch our great nation go down in flames," Representative Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat, said in urging the legislation forward.

"This is a strong step in the right direction," Jeffries added.

The emergency spending package adds approximately $320bn to a programme designed to help small businesses keep employees on their payrolls until the US economy can be reopened again.

Congress provided $350bn in March for small businesses under the so-called Paycheck Protection Program, but the money was quickly exhausted by overwhelming demand.

The programme was designed to help companies with fewer than 500 employees, but a number of larger companies found ways to obtain funds through their banks in the first round.

Source: Agencies

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