Bankruptcy judge OKs $120 million loan to fund Detroit public services

The Detroit Free Press reports:

A federal judge today approved a $120 million loan for Detroit to begin spending quickly on critical public services needs.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes, presiding over the city’s historic municipal bankruptcy, said this morning that the city has made the case for what it calls a “quality of life” loan from the London-based investment bank Barclays.

The city sought the loan and renegotiated its terms after a previous agreement with Barclays collapsed. The initial loan included an extra $230 million that would have paid off a controversial pension debt interest-rate transaction from 2005, but Rhodes twice rejected settlements involved to that swaps deal.