WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The administration of US President Barack Obama has no plans to bail out the US territory of Puerto Rico that defaulted on its debt on Monday, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a briefing on Tuesday.
“The administration does not envision a bail out for Puerto Rico, but where available federal assistance can be leveraged to assist the leaders of Puerto Rico in meeting some of their financial obligations, we stand ready to help,” Earnest said.
On Monday, Puerto Rico Government Development Bank President Melba Acosta Febo announced that the territory was able to repay only $628,000 of its $58 million debt. In total, Puerto Rico owes creditors $73 billion.
“We believe Puerto Rico needs an orderly process to restructure its unsustainable liabilities,” Earnest went on.
President Obama established an interagency task force on Puerto Rico to try to leverage available federal assistance to help the territory, the press secretary added.
The US Congress has to approve any debt restructuring plan for Puerto Rico due to its unique status as a US territory.
