Puerto Rico Says Will Default Tomorrow, Begs Congress For Help “Or Else Crisis Will Get Worse”
Update: PR Governor Padilla has spoken…
- *PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR SAYS WON’T PAY DEBT TOMORROW
- *PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR SAYS ISLAND WON’T PAY DEBT MONDAY
- *PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR: GOVERNMENT SIGNED MORATORIUM BILL YESTERD
- *PUERTO RICO NEEDS DEAL W/ CREDITORS AND/OR CONGRESS: GARCIA
And of course, demands a bailout…
- *PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR CALLS ON U.S. CONGRESS, PAUL RYAN FOR HELP
And then threatens…
- *CRISIS WILL GET WORSE IF U.S. CONGRESS DOESN’T HELP: GARCIA
- *PUERTO RICO GOVERNOR CONCLUDES REMARKS TO COMMONWEALTH
As we detailed earlier, It’s D-Day in Puerto Rico.As Bloomberg reports, investors are finding little comfort in the Puerto Rico Government Development Bank’s efforts to strike a last-ditch agreement with creditors to soften the blow of a default this weekend. The bonds that mature today (May 1st) have crashed to just 20c (disastrously below the 36-cent recovery rate the commonwealth proposed in March).
It appears investors are not buying what Puerto Rico is selling and prefer to dump the bonds than hold out in hope of a ‘deal’…
A default on the $422 million due today is “virtually certain,” S&P Global Ratings said April 11.
No matter which route Puerto Rico takes, credit-rating companies see a default as inevitable. Moody’s Investors Service analysts said last week that any non-payment, even if it’s agreed to by creditors, constitutes a default in their eyes. S&P Global Ratings said a distressed-debt exchange or temporarily withholding interest is synonymous to default.
But as Bloomberg reports, Puerto Rico said its Government Development Bank, which is operating in a state of emergency to preserve its dwindling cash, reached an agreement with some credit unions to delay $33 million of bond payments as the commonwealth rushes toward a potential historic default.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
