The economy of Puerto Rico is crushed by excessive debt and lacks the funds to fight the outbreak of the deadly Zika virus, said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. Visiting the US territory as he supports its campaign for debt relief, Lew said the austerity being forced on the government is leaving it short of staff and funds and vulnerable to a strong outbreak of Zika.
‘Zika-affected Puerto Rico is in a debt of more than $70 billion, and the government has already defaulted on several payments.’
Tweet it Now
Lew painted a scenario in which Zika exposure spreads "and hospitals are losing personnel and unable to get enough of the drugs they need to treat patients; and in the areas where mosquitoes breed, there's no money to deal with mosquito eradication." "Those are very important realities -- it's not a future problem -- it is something happening now," he said.
Zika has already been shown to transmit via local mosquitoes on the Caribbean island, and one death has been reported.
But the government is being squeezed by $70 billion in debts it cannot pay; it failed last week to make payments on $400 million in bonds.
The island's creditors so far have not agreed on any debt rescheduling deal, and meanwhile, it is being blocked by the US Congress from seeking a bankruptcy-type resolution that would force all creditors to come to the table and accept a writedown.
Advertisement
Source-AFP