Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

The judge overseeing Puerto Rico’s record bankruptcy ordered Governor Pedro Pierluisi, the island’s political leaders and its financial oversight board to participate in a conference call on Monday after lawmakers failed to enact legislation to restructure the commonwealth’s debt, Bloomberg News reported.

Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives approved a bill yesterday that allows the commonwealth to issue new bonds to replace existing debt and cut its obligations, a key step that moves the island closer to resolving its record bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported.

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board agreed to remove proposed public employee pension cuts from a plan to slash the island’s debt, a major concession aimed at securing lawmakers’ approval for a bond restructuring that will put an end to its more than four-year bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reported.

The Puerto Rico power authority is set to declare a state of emergency in an effort to improve its fleet of power generators that have been in critical condition, the utility said, the Wall Street Journal reported.