WASHINGTON: Puerto Rico’s governor said that the island is unable to pay its approximately $72 billion in debt, a statement likely to send waves through the US economy, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

“The debt is not payable,” Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla told the paper. “There is no other option. I would love to have an easier option. This is not politics, this is math.”

Garcia Padilla and senior staff members told the publication last week during an interview that the island, a US commonwealth, would likely seek concessions from perhaps as many as all of its creditors.

This, the Times reported, could include deferral of some debt payment for up to five years or a lengthened timetable for repayment.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play

Opinion

Editorial

IMF’s unease
24 May, 2024

IMF’s unease

THE first round of ‘engagement’ between Pakistan and the IMF over the former’s request for a larger and longer...
Belated recognition
24 May, 2024

Belated recognition

WITH Wednesday’s announcement by three European states that they intend to recognise Palestine as a state later...
App for GBV survivors
24 May, 2024

App for GBV survivors

GENDER-based violence is caught between two worlds: one sees it as a crime, the other as ‘convention’. The ...
Energy inflation
Updated 23 May, 2024

Energy inflation

The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.
Culture of violence
23 May, 2024

Culture of violence

WHILE political differences are part of the democratic process, there can be no justification for such disagreements...
Flooding threats
23 May, 2024

Flooding threats

WITH temperatures in GB and KP forecasted to be four to six degrees higher than normal this week, the threat of...