Banks started submitting loans Monday, April 27, for a second wave of federal stimulus-funded loans to help small businesses cover payroll and other key expenses.

In just 90 minutes, $3.2 billion in loans to 1,800 businesses nationally were approved, Small Business Administration regional director Ashley Bell said.

Georgia totals weren’t immediately known.

“We won’t have state breakdowns for a few days,” Bell said.

Banks can submit applications for loans already being sought by businesses before the first round of money for the program was exhausted, or "new applications while funds last," Bell said.

The initial $349 billion set aside for the Paycheck Protection Program ran out on April 16, after being available for fewer than two weeks. An additional $310 billion for the program was approved last week.

Bell said that $60 billion of that amount is “dedicated to small businesses that do not have pre-existing relationships with banks. This will help rural and many minority-owned businesses.”

The forgivable loans are meant to cover 2 ½ months of payroll, rent, mortgage interest and utility bills, with a loan limit of $10 million.

“If you can show your lender that on June 30 that you kept (employees) on payroll, then we can forgive the entire loan,” Bell said.