💸 Inflation Is Calming. Now What?

For the first time in three years, the U.S. inflation rate fell below 3% as the Consumer Price Index (CPI) landed at a cool 2.9% year-over-year during the month of July. For shoppers concerned about the price of their grocery bills, the food and beverage sector has seen pricing growth slow well below that rate, and is now even declining in some categories.

Since January, inflation for food pricing has remained low. At-home food (i.e. groceries) rose just 0.1% in July – the same rate as June and only up mildly from flat growth in May. Meanwhile, all food, including away from home, was up just 0.2%.

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At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, business owners were panicking at the thought of going under, and federal financial assistance programs provided by the Small Business Administration (SBA) felt like a lifeline to many teetering on the edge of solvency.

One of those programs – the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – was lauded for stabilizing the economy and supporting small businesses through loans designed to be forgiven. But an earlier program – Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) – must be paid back and its terms have left many feeling hamstrung.

The loans came with generous repayment terms: owners could defer payments until this year, and the interest rate of 3.75% over 30 -years compares favorably to current business lending rates that are nearly double. 

But repayment itself is not the issue: These small business owners feel the required personal guarantees on loans over $200,000 have created a massive hurdle to growth, leaving them with few options to dig their way out of the debt without risking bankrupting both their businesses and themselves.

Insiders can access the full story to understand the complications EIDL has created and what experts believe can be done to remedy a range of unique situations.

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