Storms to challenge Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands' credit quality: Moody's

Both territories will be heavily reliant on relief from the U.S. federal government, as they were hit by storms at a time when they were already suffering financial distress, Moody's said.

Puerto Rico is undergoing a debt restructuring under federal oversight and the U.S. Virgin Islands has extremely weak liquidity.

Moody's Analytics' preliminary estimate of Maria's total cost to Puerto Rico, including lost output, is $45 billion to $95 billion, representing about 65-135 percent of the territory's gross national product.

(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)