SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico–Puerto Rico may officially be in default today on bond payments and it is credit union members here who will be left holding the bag if the payment is never made.
Puerto Rico, which is $72 billion in debt, was likely to miss a $58-million bond payment over the weekend, but that will not be official until today, the first official business day, according to a report by Reuters. The $58-million payment was due on a set of bonds primarily owned by Puerto Rican credit unions and their members. The so-called “moral obligation” are no-named because there is only a moral but not legal obligation to pay them back, according to Reuters.
While a small amount compared to the island’s overall debt, Bloomberg called the payment a “warning shot” from Puerto Rico to indicate to investors that the country is not afraid to default on obligations.