Puerto Rico says it may not be able to make its payments toward its $72 billion public debt and asks for U.S. assistance
Puerto Rico, a U.S. Commonwealth in the Caribbean, is in debt and the government is requesting help from the U.S.
“We must all share the payment of this debt,”
Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla said in a televised address this week, in which he asked for help. “This isn’t the moment of recrimination. It is the moment of unity…It is the moment to act.”
Corey Boles, a senior analyst for the Eurasia Group who specializes in Puerto Rico says,
It’s been a classic case of financial mismanagement of spending more than they had.”
Puerto Rico’s government is requesting that Congress allow it to seek Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy, which is currently not permitted under the law for a commonwealth. This would allow Puerto Rico to protect itself from creditors while it develops a plan to restructure debts, but the U.S is not open to assist P.R. at this time.
P.R. is in dire need of economic reform with an economy that has been in or near recession for nearly 10 years. If the U.S. does not assist in the debt crisis, it will result in higher taxes, suspension of the minimum wage and fewer public-sector jobs for Puerto Ricans.
-Infinite Wiz(@InfiniteWiz)
