The US senators and also the Trump administration officials have got into an agreement for a massive economic stimulus bill to ease the economic impact of the coronavirus or COVID-19 outbreak, the White House official Eric Ueland stated early on Wednesday.
"We have a deal," Ueland mentioned the reporters post the negotiations about the package, which is expected to be worth $2 trillion. Mitch McConnelll, who is the Senate's Republican majority leader was expected to talk on the Senate floor shortly about the agreement.
Package had been expected to include a $500 billion fund
The text of the pact was not expected to be available until later on Wednesday. The package had been expected to include a $500 billion fund to help hard-hit industries and a comparable amount for direct payments of up to $3,000 to millions of US families, as well as $350 billion for small-business loans, $250 billion for expanded unemployment aid and $75 billion for hospitals.
It aims to cushion the economic blow from a pandemic that has killed more than 660 people in the United States and sickened more than 50,000, shuttered thousands of businesses, thrown millions out of work and led states to order 100 million people - nearly a third of the population - to stay at home. The money at stake in the stimulus legislation exceeds what the US government spends on national defense, scientific research, highway construction and other discretionary programs.
(With agency inputs)