A contingent of the government’s fiscal team is in New York today for two days of meetings with credit ratings agencies Standard & Poors, Fitch and Moody’s, which are all keeping close tabs on Puerto Rico’s financial problems and the steps being taken to address the crunch.
The Puerto Rico Public Buildings Authority’s high level of indebtedness — estimated at $4.2 billion — and whether it has repayment capacity, could make it an “easy target” for credit ratings agencies, local analyst firm REOF Capital concluded in a recently released report.
Moody’s Investors Service is set to conclude its review of Puerto Rico’s credit and fiscal situation in coming weeks, when it will focus on key issues of liquidity, budget performance and economic outlook, the New York-based agency said in a report released Thursday.
Almost exactly a year to the day when Moody’s Investors Service cut Puerto Rico’s credit to Baa3, the New York-based agency placed the island’s general obligation rating on review for downgrade.
Puerto Rico’s general obligation credit ratings could be spared from another downgrade from Standard & Poor’s at least through March 2015 if the government makes good on its commitment to rein in its structural deficit over the next two years, follows through on its plans to reduce major liabilities, such as public pensions, and upholds its revenue stream.
Standard & Poor's Ratings Services this week affirmed its 'BBB-' rating and negative outlook on Puerto Rico’s general obligation (GO) and appropriation debt, based on — among other things — the commonwealth's weak economic trends that began in fiscal 2007, including population declines and economic contraction.
In an effort to educate young people about how to establish and make proper use of credit, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, in partnership with the American Bankers' Association, will sponsor the “Get smart about credit” event this month.
Aware that an individual’s financial health is key to the development of their micro, small and medium business ventures, Consumer Credit Counseling Services and the Corporation for Business and Community Financing, known as COFECC, announced Tuesday the terms of a partnership to help participants strengthen their knowledge and personal finance management.
The Puerto Rico government’s economic team presented four measures to shore up $280 million for the Highway Authority, which is deep in the hole with the Government Development Bank, to which it owes $2.1 billion.
Puerto Rico may have reached the limits of sustainable growth within its current institutional framework and its leaders must find the political will to make profound changes to the socio-economic structure to pull out of the seemingly unstoppable downward spiral the island is on and insert it squarely into the new globalized economy.
Credit ratings agency Moody’s Investor Service issued a report Wednesday saying that Commonwealth employee retirement system (ERS, for short) reform and the projected changes to the sales and use tax system are both positives for the island’s credit, despite the ongoing fiscal indebtedness.
Fitch Ratings downgraded Puerto Rico’s debt to 'BBB-' from 'BBB+, a notch above “junk,” following the decisions by its colleagues at Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s in recent weeks.
Citing Puerto Rico’s ongoing budget gap, New York-based Standard & Poor's Ratings Services on Wednesday lowered the government’s general obligations rating to 'BBB-' from 'BBB' — one notch above junk. The outlook is negative.
Government Development Bank President Javier Ferrer said the García-Padilla administration is “analyzing all types of measures” to address Puerto Rico’s critical fiscal problems fronted by the drained public retirement systems that are being closely watched by stateside credit agencies.
Visa Inc. announced it reached $93 billion in total payments volume for the period ended on September 30, 2012, compared to $89 billion reported last fiscal year during the same period in the Caribbean and Latin American region, resulting from the sustained growth of debit and credit products in the region, particularly in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru.
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