Puerto Rico Crisis Enters New Phase as Obama Signs Debt Bill
- Measure signed as island’s governor declares debt moratorium
- Bill gives commonwealth ability to force debt restructuring
Menendez: Puerto Rico Needs Clearer Path to Restructuring
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Puerto Rico’s fiscal crisis reached a turning point as President Barack Obama signed bipartisan legislation Thursday that allows the island to escape from debts Wall Street once viewed as ironclad.
As Obama was signing the bill, Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla declared a moratorium on debt payments, one day before $2 billion are due, setting in motion its biggest default yet. It will be the first time the U.S. territory has failed to pay on its general-obligation bonds.