The report encourages municipalities to build on their recent successes and focus on long-term financial sustainability. #NewsismyBusiness
The U.S.-based clean energy think tank warns a potential $2.5 billion bond issue for PREPA could significantly impact the financial burden on households. #Newsismybusiness
ABRE Puerto Rico released its eighth annual index, highlighting key financial trends across the island’s towns. #NewsismyBusiness
Espacios Abiertos questions lack of transparency and data supporting the board's updated forecast for a deficit by 2027. #NewsismyBusiness
A budget review published by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis of the approved fiscal-recovery blueprint for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) concludes that the plan faces billions in financial risks that will hinder the transformation of the grid.
The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico sent a letter to the outgoing and incoming governors confirming, among other things, that the Commonwealth will face a deficit of $67.5 billion over the next 10 years.
The heads of the island’s two largest banks took turns in recent days expressing their concerns about the current fiscal scenario and whether political leaders are willing to make the right decisions to put Puerto Rico’s economy back on track.
Puerto Rico Treasury Secretary Melba Acosta-Febo said today that preliminary General Fund revenue collections for May totaled $753 million, exceeding collections for the same month of last year by $141 million, or 23 percent, and beating estimates by $29 million.
Ingrid Vila Biaggi, chief of staff to Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro García-Padilla, announced today that a balanced budget for the 2014-2015 fiscal year will be introduced in the coming weeks.
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.
Puerto Rico government officials told investors Tuesday that the Commonwealth's Fiscal 2014 General Fund budget revenue will grow by $1.7 billion, or 17 percent, largely due to new tax measures, amendments to Law 154 and an expansion of the Sales and Use Tax (IVU, as it is known in Spanish) base.
The Treasury Department has closed the gap between Puerto Rico’s actual General Fund income and the income estimated by the previous administration by 75 percent, agency chief and government CFO, Melba Acosta-Febo said Monday.
High-ranking government officials said Thursday that the decision by Standard & Poor’s a day earlier to slash Puerto Rico’s credit rating to near-junk status was “not a surprise” given the persisting grim economic scenario, but in its analysis the agency is giving the current administration “room to tackle the general fund deficit.”
Puerto Rico’s public finances have stabilized but are still weak, its indebtedness levels and rates are unsustainable, its fiscal viability over the medium term is uncertain, and its economic outlook remains quite modest, said the Center for the New Economy’s Policy Director Sergio Marxuach during an analysis of the administration’s current and future budgetary activity.
It is the general belief that it is bad for a government to have a deficit or be shoulder-deep in debt. However, while it is “perfectly legitimate” for public administrations to have shortfalls and finance them with debt, what is dangerous is when the practice leads to unsustainability.
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