Latin American Economy & Business - December 2015 (ISSN 1741-7430)

On 1 December 2015, the Government Development Bank (GDB) of Puerto Rico paid US$354m owing in principal and interest to its creditors. However, this involved the legal diversion of funds from five other government-backed entities. On 1 January 2016, it will be necessary for payment to be made on around US$900m of the government’s General Obligation (GO) bonds and bonds of other entities. Meanwhile the government is asking the US Congress to allow it to restructure its debts in an orderly fashion with bankruptcy protection.