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White House: No Bailout for Puerto Rico as New Debt Payments Loom

HeadlineAug 05, 2015

In news on Puerto Rico, the White House has said that it is not considering a bailout for the U.S. territory, which did not make a $58 million debt payment Monday. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that Puerto Rico needs to “restructure its liabilities,” but that a bailout was off the table.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest: “We believe Puerto Rico needs an orderly process to restructure its unsustainable liabilities. … But as I’ve said before, there’s no — the administration does not envision a bailout for Puerto Rico. But where available federal assistance can be leveraged to assist the leaders of Puerto Rico in meeting some of their financial obligations, we stand ready to help.”

This comes as The New York Times is reporting that Puerto Rico has also temporarily stopped its monthly payments to a fund that is used to pay back investors who hold general obligation bonds. Puerto Rico has a $370 million payment to this fund due January 1. A bill before Congress would allow Puerto Rico to declare a limited bankruptcy, a move currently permitted only for cities and municipalities inside U.S. states. We’ll have more on Puerto Rico after headlines.

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