Puerto Rico authorizes debt payment suspension; Obama signs rescue bill

By Nick Brown SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Puerto Rico authorized suspension of payments on its general obligation debt on Thursday just minutes after U.S. President Barack Obama signed a law creating a federal oversight board with authority to negotiate the restructuring of the island's $70 billion in debt. The executive order issued by Puerto Rico's governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, comes just one day before the U.S. territory was due to make $1.9 billion worth of debt payments on July 1, including some $780 million in constitutionally-backed, general obligation bonds. It remains to be seen whether Puerto Rico will pay part of the GO debt or any of the non-GO debt.