Americans to start receiving relief checks next week: Mnuchin

WASHINGTON: A new round of pandemic relief checks for Americans will start going out next week, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday.

Congress is expected to give final approval to a $900 billion stimulus package later Monday that will include payments of $600 to all Americans.

"People are going to see this money by the beginning of the next week," Mnuchin said on CNBC.

That amounts to "$2,400 for a family of four so much needed relief in just in time for the holidays."

After months of wrangling, US lawmakers on Sunday finally agreed on a deal to help support the pandemic-battered US economy even as a surge in infections has raised new fears about the recovery.

The package also will include a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans to businesses, as well as aid for schools, child care and rental assistance, and an additional $300 week in aid to unemployed workers.

While the direct payments are only half the amount provided by the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that Congress approved in March, Mnuchin said it is a "very fast way of getting money into the economy."

"It's money that gets recirculated in the economy, so people go out and spend this money and that helps small business," he said.

President-elect Joe Biden has welcomed the agreement but said much more will be needed to support the world's largest economy.

"Immediately, starting in the new year, Congress will need to get to work on support for our Covid-19 plan, for support to struggling families, and investments in jobs and economic recovery," he said in a statement.