Puerto Rico fails to make loan payment; Moody's calls it a default

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.com/en/puerto-rico-fails-to-make-loan-payment-moodys-calls-it-a-default/a-18625137

The US territory of Puerto Rico has defaulted on a bond payment, according to ratings firm Moody's. The Caribbean island had been struggling with a debt crisis.

Puerto Rico fails to make loan payment; Moody's calls it a default
04.08.2015

The Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico confirmed on Monday that it had made only a partial payment of interest totaling $628,000 (about 537,000 euros) on a $58 million (53 million euros) debt payment which had fallen due on August 1.

"Due to the lack of appropriated funds for the fiscal year the entirety of the [Puerto Rico Public Finance Corporation] payment was not made today," Government Development Bank President Melba Acosta Febo said in a statement released Monday.

"This was a decision that reflects the serious concerns about the Commonwealth's liquidity in combination with the balance of obligations to our creditors and the equally important obligations to the people of Puerto Rico to ensure the essential services they deserve are being maintained," she said.

Moody's: It's a default

Puerto Rico's government on Friday argued the situation should not be considered a default under a technical definition of the term.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Call it anything they want, they already said they could not pay the bills,

there is no money for debt payments.
I understand there are words that have specific legal and financial meanings
but there is also a reality that when the money is not there, you can't spend it.