Washington — US President Donald Trump asked Congress on Tuesday for a loan of $4.9bn to help the cash-strapped Puerto Rican government pay urgent bills as the US territory struggles to recover from Hurricane Maria, an administration official said. The request came as the oversight board charged with resolving Puerto Rico’s debt crisis warned the US territory was at risk of being unable to pay for essential services such as salaries for teachers, first responders and healthcare providers. "The best estimate of the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) and government is that the commonwealth will run out of money at the end of this month," the board told US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a letter on Tuesday evening. Weighed down by nearly $72bn in debt, Puerto Rico struggled with liquidity even before the most powerful hurricane in almost 90 years wiped out the island’s power grid, homes and other infrastructure nearly three weeks ago. It will take months and billions...
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