Puerto Rico’s U.S. Rescue Won’t Come Soon Enough to Halt Default
- Commonwealth on its own to deal with $2 billion due July 1
- Island may skip first payment on its highest-priority debt
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Even if U.S. lawmakers return next week and push through their Puerto Rico rescue with unusual speed, it may not come fast enough to save the island from its biggest default yet.
The legislation would put Puerto Rico’s budget and, potentially, a restructuring of its debt in the hands of a federal oversight board appointed by congressional Republicans and President Barack Obama -- a body that’s virtually impossible to set up before $2 billion of debt payments come due on July 1. And the bill doesn’t provide any additional federal money to the U.S. territory, whose government says it’s simply too broke to pay.