United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-01-12 monographic deposited born digital 38 p. GA 1.13:RCED-99-10 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10 P0b002ee18038ac51 f:rc99010 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10 RCED-99-10 Direct loans Business assistance Government guaranteed loans Losses Business development loans Delinquent loans Rural economic development USDA Rural Utilities Service Program USDA Intermediary Relending Loan Program USDA Business and Industry Loan Program USDA Rural Economic Development Loan Program Letter Report RCED

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the: (1) number and dollar value of business assistance loans approved by the Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service (RBS); (2) federal government's costs associated with the agency's loans; and (3) financial condition of the agency's loan portfolio, including the losses incurred.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) RBS approved more than 2,900 rural business loans during fiscal year (FY) 1993 through the first 6 months of FY 1998; (2) these loans totalled about $3.2 billion; (3) more than three quarters of these loans and almost 90 percent of the total loan amount were guaranteed business and industry loans; (4) only 2 percent of the loans were direct government-funded business and industry loans; (5) the remaining loans were direct loans under the intermediary relending program and the rural economic development program; (6) the estimated total cost of these loan programs was about $290 million during FY 1993 through FY 1997; (7) of this amount, the subsidy costs of the loans, which primarily involve the estimates of default costs and interest rate subsidies, were almost $195 million; (8) administrative costs, which cover estimates of salaries and other expenses associated with operating the programs, totalled about $95 million; (9) as of March 31, 1998, the unpaid principal on the RBS's outstanding guaranteed and direct loans totalled about $2.2 billion; (10) delinquent borrowers held about $116 million--$112 million on guaranteed business and industry loans and about $4 million on direct business and industry loans and intermediary relending loans--or 5.4 percent of the total outstanding principal; (11) furthermore, from the start of FY 1993 through March 31, 1998, the agency incurred loan losses totalling about $266 million: about $264 million on guaranteed business and industry loans and about $2 million on intermediary relending loans; and (12) the agency did not experience any losses on debt associated with direct business and industry loans or with rural economic development loans. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10/html/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10/pdf/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10.pdf GAO/RCED-99-10 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-RCED-99-10 Letter Report GAO/RCED-99-10; Rural Development: Rural Business--Cooperative Service's Lending and the Financial Condition of Its Loan Portfolio; Direct loans Business assistance Government guaranteed loans Losses Business development loans Delinquent loans Rural economic development USDA Rural Utilities Service Program USDA Intermediary Relending Loan Program USDA Business and Industry Loan Program USDA Rural Economic Development Loan Program Title 7 Section 1932 Title 7 Section 940c 7 U.S.C. 1932 7 U.S.C. 940c Title 42 Section 9812 42 U.S.C. 9812 Public Law 99-198 Public Law 101-508 Public Law 103-354