Citi Commits $24 Billion to Small Businesses

Citi has announced that it will commit $24 billion to small-business lending over the next three years. The bank plans to lend $7 billion in 2011, $8 billion in 2012 and $9 billion in 2013.

The announcement comes paired with recent efforts by the SBA to further small-business lending in order to spur job growth and economic recovery. The funds will be made available to small-business owners through traditional credit lines and loans. Those seeking loans can also access these funds through an SBA loan, where Citi is a preferred lender.

"We recognize the vital role small businesses play in our economy and are excited about making this commitment to increase our lending to entrepreneurs across the country," Citi CEO Vikram Pandit said in a statement. “During such challenging economic times, we appreciate how important it is for government and businesses to work together to catalyze economic growth."

Citi has gradually increased its small-business lending, from $4.5 billion in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010. This year, Citi lending has already increased 30 percent from the same period in 2010.

Comments

[madmanroywa]

08:58 AM on 09/29/2011

crud those sba loans are not a good thing its suppose to be low interest and low payments which is far from the truth i went for one to help my small business to find out i had to pay it back in 3 to 5 years at 5 to 7 percent i dont call that a good deal i said forget it and have slowly fixed things on my own although a loan would have speeded up me hiring a couple of more workers.

[des946]

09:30 AM on 09/28/2011

A three year plan . . .Hmmm, I wonder how long the desperate unemployed people can wait to find a job . . . what do they do; and how do they live in the meantime?

Yeah, "better late than never" but with the lag time between the release of laons and the point of hiring new employees, the unemployed (and the growing masses of unemplyed) are going to be in progressively dire striaghts for quite some time, huh? Three years . . . just goes to demonstrate that it is going to take at least five years for hings to "bottom out", maybe longer. Meanwhile the CEOs and upper management at the financial institutions and major corporations are still getting their rather exorbitant salaries, benefits, and RECORD BONUSES. With they havig RECORD AMOUNTS of "cash on hand", they don't feel much motivation to expedite "recovery efforts". Everyone is waiting for everyone else to "do their part" first. It is going to be a very protracted recovery at best.

[JHKH]

06:46 PM on 09/27/2011

Why isn't HP reporting the occupation of Wall St?

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/09/27-2 for an article and context.

[des946]

09:34 AM on 09/28/2011

Because, as part of the "shadow oligarchy controlled media', they do not want the American people to have their own version of an "Arab Spring" in the USA. The media and the "journalists" do not want to advertise the "occupation of Wall Street" . . . gosh that might lead to more and bigger protests, huh? Where is the "journalistic integrity" of our news media? And who are the powers behind the scenes who are dictating and controlling what is to be considered as being "news owrthy"?

[JHKH]

02:06 PM on 09/28/2011

Yes, divide, distract, conquer.

[Marks Spencer]

02:38 PM on 09/27/2011

In addition, clients will be eligible for loans through SBA programs, where Citi is a preferred lender. Citi noted that it has significantly increased its small business lending in recent years, from $4.5 billion in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010. For the first half of 2011, lending has increased 30 percent over the same time period in 2010.

http://financeservices.biz