Puerto Rico defaults on bond payment, pays fraction of US$58m

New York

PUERTO Rico has defaulted on its debt by paying only a fraction of what was due on bonds due on Aug 1, showing the depth of the island's economic and cashflow problems and potentially opening the door to litigation.

The Commonwealth paid only US$628,000 of a US$58 million payment due on its Public Finance Corp bonds, the head of its Government Development Bank said in a statement on Monday. "Due to the lack of appropriated funds for this fiscal year, the entirety of the PFC payment was not made today," GDB head Melba Acosta said.