- Title: Puerto Rico oversight board hopes to certify fiscal plan by end-Jan
- Date: 19th November 2016
- Summary: FAJARDO, PUERTO RICO (NOVEMBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FEDERAL BOARD OVERSEEING PUERTO RICO'S FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS PEOPLE LISTENING VARIOUS OF FEDERAL BOARD OVERSEEING PUERTO RICO'S FINANCIAL RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BOARD CHAIRMAN JOSE CARRION, SAYING: "We can only evaluate the current plan that was presented. It's not static and, when the government-elect takes office, it will be attended to but, really, at this moment, it would be speculation to say what the government-elect is going to do. We have the plan submitted by the current governor and we have reacted and you were also able to see the reaction of the community." PROTESTERS OUTSIDE MEETING VENUE SIGN READING:(Spanish) 'NO TO (federal) BOARD, NO TO COLONY, NO TO DEBT PAYMENT - WE ARE NOT AFRAID." POLICE OFFICERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LOCAL RESIDENT, JOSE RIVERA SANTANA PORTAVOZ, SAYING: "We are at the beginning of a movement of the people that includes everyone who was born on this island and live here or in the United States mainland and are united against the blow that a fiscal control board represents; it is anti-democratic, it is despotic and that is not in our country's best interests." PROTEST IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 4th December 2016 00:26
- Keywords: Puerto Rico oversight board fiscal plan
- Location: FAJARDO, PUERTO RICO
- City: FAJARDO, PUERTO RICO
- Country: USA
- Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA00158Z4I87
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The federal board overseeing Puerto Rico's financial restructuring on Friday (November 18) set a target date of Jan. 31, 2017 to certify a fiscal turnaround plan for the U.S. territory, and heard from bondholders and industry leaders about the merits of a draft of the proposal.
The board, created this year under the Puerto Rico rescue law known as PROMESA, is working on debt restructuring talks with holders of Puerto Rico's $70 billion in bonds in an effort to pull the struggling island out of a crisis marked by a 45 percent poverty rate and shrinking population.
The bipartisan, seven-member board must approve the island's annual budgets and certify a fiscal turnaround plan submitted by its governor, Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Board Chairman Jose Carrion said at Friday's meeting in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, that the board would aim to certify a turnaround plan by Jan. 31. The target date could be ambitious as Garcia Padilla's term ends on Jan. 1, and his successor, Ricky Rossello of the opposition party who was elected on Nov. 8, may want to submit his own plan.
"We can only evaluate the current plan that was presented. It's not static and, when the government-elect takes office, it will be attended to but, really, at this moment, it would be speculation to say what the government-elect is going to do. We have the plan submitted by the current governor and we have reacted and you were also able to see the reaction of the community."
The governor presented a draft plan last month, forecasting a financing gap as high as $59 billion over 10 years. While the plan proposes some revenue-generating measures to close the gap, it relies heavily on cutting repayments to bondholders.
Rossello opposes debt defaults, particularly on the island's constitutionally backed general obligation debt, whereas Garcia Padilla has supported periodic defaults in favor of ensuring government services.
Some activists protested, saying the board of overseers was a 'colonial' move.
"We are at the beginning of a movement of the people that includes everyone who was born on this island and live here or in the United States mainland and are united against the blow that a fiscal control board represents; it is anti-democratic, it is despotic and that is not in our country's best interests," said Puerto Rican Jose Rivera Santana Portavoz.
Among those testifying at Friday's meeting was Jorge Irizarry, who leads a group of local bondholders. Irizarry said Garcia Padilla's draft plan failed to account for local residents who hold Puerto Rican bonds.
Conway MacKenzie, an adviser to the Puerto Rican government, briefed the board on the island's liquidity, reiterating earlier forecasts of a liquidity gap as high as $3 billion by the end of the fiscal year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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