Puerto Rico defaulted on its full payment of its bonds Monday for the first time in the commonwealth government’s history.
“Due to the lack of appropriated funds for this fiscal year the entirety of the PFC payment was not made today,” said Melba Acosta, head of Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank, in a statement.
Puerto Rico paid $628,000 out of a $58 million payment on its Public Finance Corp bonds which were due August 1.
“Moody’s views this event as a default,” said Moody’s Investors Service vice president Emily Raimes in a statement.
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“This event is consistent with our belief that Puerto Rico does not have the resources to make all of its forthcoming debt payments. This is a first in what we believe will be broad defaults on commonwealth debt,” she said. But Puerto Rico’s Acosta said in a statement that the decision to not make the full payment balanced the “obligations to our creditors and the equally important obligations to the people of Puerto Rico to ensure the essential services they deserve are maintained.” The default comes as Puerto Rican leaders of both main political parties have asked Congress to allow them to restructure some of its debt that way states can do, as in the case of Detroit. This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com.Recommended
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