Puerto Rico, Running Short of Cash, Misses a Debt Payment
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Protestors in San Juan’s financial district demanded the island’s public debt not be paid to bondholders. “We didn’t take out a loan,” read a sign. “We didn’t see a dime. We’re not going to pay.” Credit Ricardo Arduengo/Associated Press
A financing unit of the Puerto Rican government failed to make a $93.7 million debt-service payment on Wednesday, underscoring recent warnings by Gov. Alejandro García Padilla that the commonwealth, which is seeking a “negotiated moratorium” on its $72 billion of debt, is fast running out of cash.
The unit, the Public Finance Corporation, was created to help with the central government’s chronic budget deficits. It has a little more than $1 billion in outstanding bonds.
The corporation’s bonds are backed by a promise that the Puerto Rican legislature will appropriate the cash needed to pay them down. But officials said that for this fiscal year, which began July 1, lawmakers did not appropriate the funds…
Puerto Rico, Running Short of Cash, Misses a Debt Payment
