Puerto Rico Government Meets with Debt Holders in New York

Puerto Rico's Government Development Bank is meeting with advisers of some of the finance firms that own Puerto Rico's debt. The Bank says it will present a proposed plan to comprehensively resolve the island's debt crisis. A December 1 deadline looms for Puerto Rico to make a $355 million debt payment or enter a partial default. The US territory owes $72 billion in debt.

"It's important to find a solution that can deal with Puerto Rico's total debt," said Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA Network. ‎"Puerto Rico's people face a humanitarian crisis. Puerto Rico's government and bond holders have the ability to work out a voluntary solution that protects Puerto Rico's people."

The Puerto Rico public utility company, PREPA, also reaches a deadline to re-negotiate its $8 billion debt. Congress currently considers legislation to grant Puerto Rico's public utilities access to US bankruptcy protection. In October, the Obama Administration proposed a more comprehensive bankruptcy plan that covers all of Puerto Rico's public debt. The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on December 1 to discuss those proposals.

"Every day that this crisis drags on means more hardship for Puerto Rico's people‎," said LeCompte.

Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 400 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes the participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. http://www.jubileeusa.org