WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday announced a final extension of a coronavirus relief pause on federal student loan repayments, interest and collections until Jan. 31, 2022. The extension of the pause, which had been due to expire on Sept. 30, comes as cases of the Delta variant of the coronavirus continue to surge around the United States. In a separate statement, Biden said the pause extension is needed because the “road will still be long” for many borrowers despite Friday’s jobs report showing July’s unemployment rate at a 16-month low of 5.4 percent. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and two fellow Democratic lawmakers hailed the extension, but said the measure did not go far enough. “Our broken student loan system continues to exacerbate racial wealth gaps and hold back our entire economy,” he said in a statement with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Ayanna Pressley.

Source: MetroXpress August 06, 2021 20:37 UTC