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By the end of the pandemic, the COVID-19 EIDL program had issued $380 billion in loans to small businesses. Today, firms with outstanding EIDL loans are in a precarious financial position relative to those without such loans:

  • More likely to have debt servicing struggles
  • Less likely to be profitable
  • Less likely to obtain new financing
  • More likely to have high debt burdens

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Of all surveyed small businesses, 44% ever received an EIDL loan and 28% still had an outstanding balance as of late 2023.

Firms with outstanding EIDL debt were more likely to:

  • Have over $100,000 total debt (67% vs 28% for firms without EIDL loans)
  • Report challenges making debt payments, 52% vs 29%
  • Be operating at break-even or a loss, 62% vs 51%

EIDL loan uptake and outstanding debt varied by demographics:

  • Firms owned by Asians have the highest percentage of having received an EIDL loan and still owing on that loan
  • Business owners who are older were more likely to have paid back EIDL loans
  • Leisure and hospitality firms have been among those most likely to continue carrying EIDL debt.
  • There are indications that while EIDL loans helped many firms survive the pandemic, for some they have created long-term debt burdens.

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