ability to act on the basis of an organic, far - sighted vision and rigorous study of the problems, to grasp the course of history. the endowment of programmes and institutional instruments, the possibility of employing unutilized capacities, the start made at forging international links prepared, in the 1950s, the great burst of economic growth. confidence, a desire to test oneself and to improve, and expectations of a different future were the major driving forces. the times are different now, but the ability to plan ahead and an organic vision are fundamental components of our action, the basis of shared choices, a precondition for carrying out specific initiatives. in these absolutely different conditions, we must rediscover the elan of those times.

ratings have been able to issue bonds, including long maturity bonds, with interest rates that are at or near historical lows. those municipal issuers that do not have direct access to the federal reserve under the mlf have still benefited substantially from a better - functioning municipal securities market. the main street lending program the federal reserve established the main street lending program ( main street ) to support lending to small and medium - sized businesses and nonprofit organizations that were in sound financial condition before the onset of the covid - 19 pandemic. these businesses and nonprofits have good longer - term prospects but have encountered temporary cash flow problems due to the pandemic and, as a result, are not able to get credit on reasonable terms. in addition to providing loans for borrowers in current need of funds, main street offers a credit backstop for firms that do not currently need funding but may if the pandemic continues to erode their financial condition. under main street, the federal reserve bank of boston has set up one spv to manage and operate five facilities : the main street new loan facility ( msnlf ), the main street priority loan facility ( msplf ), the main street expanded loan facility ( mself ), the nonprofit organization new loan facility ( nonlf ), and the nonprofit organization expanded loan facility ( noelf ). the spv will purchase up to $ 600 billion in main street loan participations, while lenders retain a percentage of the loans. main street loans have a five - year maturity, no principal payments in the first two years, and no interest payments in the first year. businesses with less than 15, 000 employees or 2019 revenues of less than $ 5 billion are eligible to apply for main street loans. available loan sizes span from $ 100, 000 to $ 300 million across the facilities and depend on the size and financial health of the borrower. with funding from the cares act, the department of the treasury has committed to make a $ 75 billion equity investment in the spv. the business facilities ( msnlf, msplf, and mself ) and nonprofit facilities ( nonlf and noelf ) have broadly similar terms but differ in their respective underwriting standards. the business facilities use the same eligibility criteria for lenders and borrowers and have many of the same terms, while other features of the loans extended in connection with each facility differ. the loan types also differ in how they interact with the borrower ’ s