PRESS RELEASE
MOBUCK$ Loans Available as of Jan. 2; Missouri State Treasurer Vivek Malek Urges Lawmakers To Expand Successful “Relief Valve Against Inflation”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ray Bozarth, 573-298-1654
JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Missouri State
Treasurer Vivek Malek announced today that his office will resume accepting
MOBUCK$ applications, with about $125 million in new loans being made available
to help small businesses and farmers receive breaks on high interest rates.
To make the newly available
money go farther to help more Missourians, as of January 2, Treasurer Malek is
limiting new MOBUCK$ loans to a maximum of $5 million instead of $10 million.
Treasurer Malek expects demand to be high, noting MOBUCK$ reached the program’s
$800 million statewide limit in May last year, resulting in the program’s
temporary closure to new applicants.
“MOBUCK$ is a very effective
relief valve against inflation, and this is what I heard repeatedly from
community leaders as I visited 45 counties this past November to
promote MOBUCK$,” Treasurer Malek said. “That is why I am asking the Missouri
Legislature to boost our total MOBUCK$ loan capacity
by $400 million – to provide more relief to qualified borrowers whose products
and services strengthen Missouri’s economy.”
Here's how MOBUCK$
works: The State Treasurer deposits money with qualified banks, which then pay
the state a below-market interest rate for those deposits. This allows the banks
to make MOBUCK$ loans with a roughly 30% reduction in the borrower’s interest
rate. These are called linked-deposit loans, and they continue to be very
popular. Since Treasurer Malek took office last January, the Treasurer’s office
has approved $350.6 million in new linked deposits supporting low-interest
loans.
“MOBUCK$ is a
success story of growing Missouri’s economy and providing small businesses and agriculture
with relief from skyrocketing interest rates,” Treasurer Malek said. “MOBUCK$
is so popular because of the thousands of individual stories its assistance has
enabled for economic growth since the program started in 1985.”
