Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday that $600 direct payments included in the COVID-19 relief package that Congress is expected to approve on Monday will hit recipients’ bank accounts next week.
“People are going to see this money at the beginning of next week,” he said in an appearance on CNBC.
He also pushed back on the notion that recipients will save the money and not spend it to stimulate the economy. He noted that the previous direct payment in the CARES Act, which was up to $1,200 a recipient, was spent and not saved.
“I spoke to many CEOs who said their business — the minute that money came into the bank account, they saw their business increase,” he said.
The direct payments are part of the $900 billion coronavirus relief package that lawmakers agreed to over the weekend. The aid will be coupled with a $1.4 trillion spending bill that will fund the federal government for the rest of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.
The relief package also includes $300 billion in new loans for small businesses that are coping with more economic lockdowns amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases across the nation, as well as $300 per week in enhanced unemployment insurance benefits. Other provisions, like an extension of the rent moratorium, child care assistance, and funding for distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, are also expected to be a part of the package.
The House is expected to vote on the entire package later on Monday, followed by the Senate.
