Alive (but not quite well).
Puerto Rico’s de facto finance authority said that it would not shutdown or be privitised amid a flurry of market rumours that legislation to do just that was set to be introduced on Friday.
The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico faces a $422m bond payment that officials on the island have warned it may be unable to make. A default on the group’s debt could cripple activity on the island, US capital markets correspondent Eric Platt reports.
Melba Acosta Febo, president of the GDB, said:
This irresponsible rumour is damaging to the Bank as an institution, as well as needlessly harmful to our employees and their families. Bank management has met with employees and informed them that, due to the fragility of the Bank’s liquidity, all available options are currently being reviewed.
She added:
It is important that everyone in Puerto Rico understand that the GDB’s fiscal standing, as well as the Commonwealth’s fiscal standing, is delicate due to the fiscal crisis we are confronting. For this reason, the GDB’s Board of Directors and management continue to urgently evaluate all available options to safeguard public finances. We will continue to move forward on several initiatives simultaneously as no final decisions have been made at this time.
Bonds sold by the bank that mature in 2023 last traded at 21 cents on the dollar. At the start of 2015, the bonds were valued above 60 cents on the dollar.
No comments:
Post a Comment