Puerto Rico to default on $422 million debt payment

The Puerto Rican Capitol Building.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Puerto Rico will default on $422 million in debt payments due Monday, Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced Sunday, adding the "decision not to pay has been a very difficult one, and one that frankly I would rather not take."

In a televised address, Garcia Padilla said Puerto Rico is "faced with the lack of liquidity to meet both the needs of our creditors and to provide services to our people. I had to choose. And I chose." Government officials spent the weekend attempting to negotiate with creditors, and some payments have been postponed for the time being. Another $700 million is due to creditors in early July.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.