Bloomberg
Bank of America Corp. (BofA) is starting to see consumer spending edge higher after plunging with the start of the coronavirus lockdown.
The nascent increase, which follows a 30% drop, is showing up as consumers buy more groceries, restaurant meals, clothing and gasoline, Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said in an interview on CNBC. US aggregate spending averaged about $50 billion over the past four weeks, comparable to levels in the fall of 2017, he said.
“It’s starting to grow a little bit,†the CEO said. “You’re seeing the start of a little bit more spending in some areas, in some of the states that have opened up a little bit. So we’ll see where that leads us, because it’s still pretty early on.â€
Moynihan also gave an update on the bank’s participation in the government’s Paycheck Protection Program run by the Small Business Administration.
“This has been a heck of a week in the history of the PPP,†he said. “The SBA’s working posture this week started off a little tough, but has improved dramatically.â€
Bank of America now has more than 231,000 loan numbers from the SBA, a requirement before the loans can be funded. Over the next 48 hours, it expects to send out 180,000 promissory notes to businesses for a total of as much as $20 billion, according to Moynihan.
Customers will have to execute the documents, send them back to the bank, “and the money goes into their account relatively quickly,†he said. The Charlotte, North-Carolina based lender has about 10,000 people working around the clock on the small-business relief program, he said.