In December, House Speaker Paul Ryan instructed lawmakers to find a “responsible solution” to Puerto Rico’s debt crisis in the first three months of this year, giving the island plenty of time to prepare for a May 1 deadline on a $422 million debt payment, The New York Times reported today.
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Puerto Rico plans to invoke a new law permitting the suspension of debt payments if the island fails to reach an agreement to defer $422 million in bond payments due May 1, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The commonwealth, which is grappling with a $70 billion debt crisis, remains in talks with creditors, said Jesus Manuel Ortiz, a spokesman for Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said yesterday that he is "hopeful" lawmakers can move legislation on Puerto Rico out of the House before the U.S. territory must make a $1.55 billion debt payment in July, Reuters reported.
Puerto Rico’s Senate plans to take up legislation today that would exclude bonds used to restructure public-corporation debt from the island’s moratorium law, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. The upper chamber is set to take up the measure passed by the House of Representatives last week, Senate President Eduardo Bhatia said yesterday.
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The Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico was created under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act of 2016. The Board consists of seven members appointed by the President of the United States and one ex officio member designated by the Governor of Puerto Rico. Access information on the Board, documents, videos of meetings, calendar of events and live webcasts by clicking here.