While most of the economic world was focused on Greece’s near-collapse and China’s financial woes, little Puerto Rico was stuck trying to pay off a $72 billion debt load. They could not. Their payment was missed. They will have to default.
Even when looking at the small bond payment of $58 million, it was still too much for them to pay over the weekend.
“We don’t have the money,” the governor’s chief of staff, Victor Suarez, said at a news conference on Friday. He added that the government still hopes to renegotiate its debts with creditors.
According to USA Today:
The failure to pay on debt would be the highest profile since Detroit, which defaulted on $1.45 billion of insured pension bonds before filing for bankruptcy in 2013.
Read more on USA Today.