Puerto Rico’s troubled electric monopoly, mired in about $9 billion of debt, stands to run out of money by midsummer if its hard-won plans to restructure fall through — something that could happen this month, a top official of the utility told a congressional panel yesterday, the New York Times reported.
Puerto Rico in Distress
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Puerto Rico’s main electricity provider can’t pay $1.13 billion due to creditors between now and July 1 without approval of an unprecedented debt-restructuring agreement reached at the end of December, according to Lisa Donahue, the agency’s chief restructuring officer, Bloomberg News reported today.
Insurers of Puerto Rican bonds sued the U.S. commonwealth late Thursday over its recent debt default, the first lawsuit against the island since its governor called its $70 billion debt load "unpayable" last June, Reuters reported today. The lawsuit by Assured Guaranty and Ambac Financial, filed in U.S. federal court in Puerto Rico, asks a judge to declare that Puerto Rico violated the U.S.
Puerto Rico's latest default meant a $10.3 million hit for Ambac Financial (AMBC.O), which insures some of the debt the island's infrastructure authority PRIFA failed to pay on Monday, Reuters reported yesterday. Ambac had exposure to $10.3 million of PRIFA debt due on Monday, according to a Nov. 30 company report.