General Accounting Office Reports & Testimony: Small Business Administration: Progress Made but Improvements Needed in Lender Oversight.

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Small Business Administration: Progress Made but Improvements Needed in Lender Oversight.

GAO-03-720T April 30, 2003

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is responsible for oversight of its 7(a) loan program lenders, including those who participate in the Preferred Lenders Program or PLP. SBA delegates full authority to preferred lenders to make loans without prior SBA approval. In fiscal year 2002, preferred lenders approved 55 percent of the dollar value of all 7(a) loans--about $7 billion. Small businesses are certainly a vital part of the nation's economy. According to SBA, they generate more than half of the nation's gross domestic product and are the principal source of new jobs in the ...