Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

Four months after announcing a grueling five-year plan for reducing the island’s vast debt and reviving economic growth, Puerto Rico’s top economic officials said yesterday that they had been too optimistic and revised the plan for the worse, the New York Times reported today.

The CEO of one of Puerto Rico's largest insurers fired back at his critics, talking about the decision to sue Puerto Rico after its recent debt default, and warning of the "dreadful" impact that granting the commonwealth access to U.S. bankruptcy laws could have on its citizens and the broader markets, CNBC.com reported yesterday.

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is asking Republicans to set up a task force to reach a deal on Puerto Rico's financial crisis, The Hill reported today.

Puerto Rico’s troubled electric monopoly, mired in about $9 billion of debt, stands to run out of money by midsummer if its hard-won plans to restructure fall through — something that could happen this month, a top official of the utility told a congressional panel yesterday, the New York Times reported.