Puerto Rico's Advocates' Cries Fall On Deaf Ears

Summary

Puerto Rico May Default On $700 Million In Debt Payments Due in December 2015 and January 2016.

The Island's Debt Exceeds Its GNP And Debt Service Is One-Third Of Its Tax Revenue.

Congress Is Unlikely To Act To Offer Bankruptcy Help.

Even though the situation is dire in Puerto Rico and time is running out, we have yet to hear from our Congress. A default on its debt will throw Puerto Rico's government and people, along with the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market, into turmoil.



One of Puerto Rico's chief restructuring advisors, former Detroit bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, sounded frustrated with Congress in an article last month in Caribbean Business.

Judge Rhodes, who oversaw Detroit's $18 billion bankruptcy, pleaded with Congress in interviews recently to allow Puerto Rico to use Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code to provide an orderly restructuring of the government's debt and the debt of its public corporations. Congress appeared unmoved and is unlikely to offer bankruptcy help for the island.

Jake Zamansky, Zamansky LLC

Puerto Rico's Advocates' Cries Fall On Deaf Ears