President Donald Trump asked Congress for a loan of $4.9 billion that would help the hurricane-stricken Puerto Rico. The island, populated by 3.4 million American citizens, declared bankruptcy in May and the loan would greatly contribute to Puerto Rico’s recovery from Hurricane Maria.
Prior to the request the board responsible for dealing with Puerto Rico’s crisis cautioned that the U.S. territory may be unable to provide for essential services including teachers’ salaries, as well as salaries for healthcare providers and first respondents.
In late September, the Governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rossello asked for a line of credit as his government was not expected to have a revenue in the near future. On Tuesday he tweeted, saying that “the proposal to provide liquidity to the government represents an important first step for the transformation of PR.”
Rossello also wrote to the president this Saturday asking for an assistance package of a minimum of $4.6 billion as “down payment on hurricane recovery efforts.”
Even prior to the hurricane, the island was experiencing liquidity problems and the loan is intended to help them overcome these issues. According to an administration official, a $150 million advance would be included in the disaster loan proposed by Trump.
“The $4.9 billion loan would help them with short-term liquidity problems in financing. The money cannot be used for debt service,” the official added.
It is estimated that the rebuilding of the wiped out infrastructure and power grid will take months, while the total cost to Puerto Rico from the hurricane ranges between $45 billion and $95 billion.
A request for another $13 billion in disaster relief for those affected by the hurricane in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico will also be considered by the House of Representatives. In addition, the White House has requested federal agencies to make an estimate by October 25 of the exact amount of money that long-term rebuilding after the hurricanes will demand.
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