The US Congress on Monday approved a $900-billion coronavirus relief bill and a government funding measure in a deal reached over the weekend.
The House voted to approve the two long-awaited bills on Monday evening, followed by the Senate near midnight.
It will now go to President Donald Trump, who has said he will sign it.
The package contains direct stimulus payments for individuals of $600 to $700. It also includes enhanced federal unemployment benefits of $300 per week, $330 billion for small business loans, more than $80 billion for schools and several billion dollars to cover the costs of distributing vaccines for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Monday the first stimulus payments should be sent out next week.
“This is a very, very fast way of getting money into the economy,” he said. “Let me emphasis People are going to see this money at the beginning of next week,” he said.
“People go out and spend this money, and that helps small business and that helps getting more people back to work,” Mnuchin added.
“While this bill is far from perfect — nor is it the bill that we would pass if Democrats had a majority in the Senate — it is a strong shot in the arm to help American families weather the storm,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday.
“And this is just the first step; this is an emergency. We need a second bill to continue dealing with the emergency and to start stimulating our economy so we get back to where we were.”
“President Trump has pushed hard for months to send Americans badly needed financial relief,” White House spokesman Ben Williamson said also on Sunday. “We look forward to Congress sending a bill to his desk imminently for signature.” CURRENTPH
