President Barack Obama will back a temporary increase in Small Business Administration Loans from $350,000 to $1 million to encourage small business hiring. Obama is going to announce his support for higher loan limits and SBA assistance for commercial mortgage refinancing when he appears at a small business in Lanham, Maryland. The two proposals would require congressional approval.

The proposal which has not yet been announced would temporarily increase the cap on small business administration Express loans from current maximum of $350,000 to $1 million.

Obama, who has listed job creation to be his top priority for this year, as his administration has forecasted the average unemployment rate to average at 10% in 2010.

Obama has previously endorsed $33 billion in small business tax cuts and incentives for hiring as well as a plan to use $30 billion of bailout money paid back by Wall Street financial institutions to help community banks make loans to small businesses.

The proposal, which would be announced on Friday would also expand SBA's program to support refinancing for owner-occupied commercial real estate loans.