Puerto Rico may shut down its government next week unless the legislature approves a loan needed to cover a $738 million deficit, Standard & Poor's said today, citing government officials.

 The loan from the U.S. commonwealth's Government Development Bank includes provisions to cover government employee salaries through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, S&P said. A shutdown would affect all nonessential government departments including the 1,562 schools and 75,000 employees in Puerto Rico's education system as well as an estimated 200,000 government employees, the credit-rating company said.

 ``It remains uncertain whether there will be enough consensus in Congress to approve the amount requested,'' said S&P analyst Horacio Aldrete in a statement.

 The Caribbean island -- whose per-capita debt burden is $5,758, 61 percent more than Connecticut, the U.S. state with highest tax-supported per-capita debt -- has repeatedly borrowed money from the development bank to balance its budget. The latest fiscal crisis has been exacerbated by a political stalemate between Governor Anibal Acevedo Vila and lawmakers over tax increases and spending cuts the governor says are necessary to keep Puerto Rico solvent.