As of April 24, 2022, 96% of 2020 PPP loans and 81% of the 2021 PPP loans have been fully or partially forgiven. That’s according to the latest SBA Forgiveness Platform Lender Submission report.

23% Still Haven’t Applied for PPP Loan Forgiveness

A very important point to remember about the PPP loan program is you can still apply for a PPP Loan forgiveness. As a matter of fact, as a borrower, you can apply for forgiveness anytime up to the maturity date of the loan.

According to the SBA metrics there were 11,405,032 PPP loans for a total loan value of $788,715,731,312. Of these, 88% or 10,044,882 have submitted forgiveness applications requesting $725,054,117,468. This makes up 92% of the total loan value of all PPP loans.

Of all the forgiveness applications, 9,992,437 or 88% have been fully or partially forgiven with a total of $721,041,288,424.

The SBA wants small businesses to apply for the loan forgiveness and it continuously encourages applicants to not let the opportunity pass them by.

As SBA administrator, Isabel Casillas Guzman, said, “The vast majority of businesses waiting for forgiveness have loans under $150,000. These entrepreneurs are busy running their businesses and are challenged by an overly complicated forgiveness process. We need to deliver forgiveness more efficiently so they can get back to enlivening our Main Streets, sustaining our neighborhoods, and fueling our nation’s economy.”

Businesses that received loans under $50,000 have the lowest loan forgiveness submissions. In 2020 95.8% of them applied for forgiveness compared to 99% for those with $50,000 to $149,999 in approved loans. For 2021 the number is much higher for the $50K group going down all the way to $80.3%.

This means 19.7% of these small businesses need to apply to have their loans forgiven.

PPP Loan Forgiveness and Small Business Economy

The PPP program literally helped millions of businesses stay afloat and ride the pandemic wave. While not everyone made it, many are still open for business. For those that were lucky enough to get the loan, it is just as important to apply for the loan forgiveness.

Getting the loan forgiven means your small business will avoid the monthly payments it has to make to repay the loan. Instead, this money can go to further help your business as the economy tries to dig itself out of the high inflation and supply chain issues facing the world.

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