Puerto Rico Bond Yields Reach Record High as Default Risks Mount

An index of Puerto Rico bond yields reached a record high this week as investors remain unsure whether they’ll be paid on Dec. 1 and lawmakers in Washington ponder extending a bankruptcy option to the cash-strapped commonwealth.
Ten-year Puerto Rico general obligations yield 12.3 percent, the highest since at least January 2013 and up from 10.1 percent on Oct. 20, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s 10.3 percentage points more than benchmark municipal bonds with the same maturity and equivalent to a 21.8 percent taxable interest rate for the highest earners.
Puerto Rico’s bondholders face mounting risks as the commonwealth veers toward default. A spokesman for Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla said Thursday that while the commonwealth intends to meet its obligations, the government could run out of cash and will pay for essential services over creditors. That announcement came a week after the Obama administration proposed giving the commonwealth unprecedented authority to restructure its entire debt burden through bankruptcy protection, a proposal the governor endorses.
The island’s Government Development Bank has $354 million of principal and interest due on Dec. 1. If the GDB and Puerto Rico fail to repay commonwealth-backed securities maturing Dec. 1, it would be the first default on the territory’s direct debt.
Puerto Rico Bond Yields Reach Record High as Default Risks Mount

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