Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

House Democrats are stepping up pressure on Republicans to advance legislation addressing Puerto Rico’s worsening debt crisis by issuing a report arguing that austerity cuts can’t be sustained and have made the island more vulnerable to the mosquito-borne Zika virus, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.

Puerto Rico took the edge off this week’s debt default by announcing a tentative agreement with creditors of the island’s Government Development Bank, but that deal is far from a sure thing, according to a Bloomberg analysis yesterday.

Officials in Washington, D.C., and San Juan have expected for some time that Puerto Rico would default yesterday on debt owed by its Government Development Bank. When it finally happened, the impact on the markets was muted, which means there may be less urgency to resolve a standoff in Congress over debt restructuring legislation, according to an analysis today on MorningConsult.com.

Gov. Alejandro García Padilla of Puerto Rico said yesterday that he had ordered a debt moratorium, blocking a $422 million payment due today, the New York Times reported.