Obama Announces Steps to Aid Small Businesses

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will announce steps on Monday to make it easier for small business owners to borrow money, using $730 million in stimulus funds to cut lending fees, boost loan guarantees and expand other programs, officials said.

"We know that small businesses are the engine of growth in the economy," said Christina Romer, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. "We absolutely want to do things to help them."

Romer, speaking on the NBC program "Meet the Press" on Sunday, said the government would pump "a significant amount" of money into encouraging small business lending but did not give a total figure.

Lawrence Summers, head of the White House National Economic Council, told ABC's "This Week" the small businesses plan was part of the president's overall effort to "put in place a program that addresses the crucial problems and permits (economic) stability to be regained."

The Obama administration believes small businesses, which accounted for about 70 percent of new job growth over the past 10 years, will ultimately drive the recovery from the current recession, one of worst in decades, a U.S. official said.

The programs being announced on Monday build on the $730 million for small businesses included in the $787 billion economic stimulus package approved by Congress last month.

"There are already a lot of things to help them in the recovery package," Romer told NBC. "Some of what will be coming out are things that were in the recovery package -- increasing the SBA (Small Business Administration) loan guarantees, lowering fees."