Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives rejected a tax-overhaul bill that would have paved the way for a $2.9 billion debt sale needed to avert a cash crunch, pushing prices on the commonwealth’s newest bonds to a record low, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The chamber voted against the measure 28 to 22 on Thursday, said Ileana Baez Bravo, a spokeswoman for Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla.
Puerto Rico in Distress
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Puerto Rico's electric power authority, PREPA, struggling with $9 billion of debt, won agreement from creditors to extend a forbearance agreement by 35 days, according to statements by a key bondholder faction and PREPA, Reuters reported yesterday.
Investors in the debt of Puerto Rico’s power utility have offered a 30-day extension of a creditor agreement that expires today, Bloomberg News reported today. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) has $8.6 billion of securities. Under the bondholder offer, the electricity provider would give creditors a restructuring plan by June 1.
Puerto Rico’s public agencies should be able to seek bankruptcy, Jeb Bush, a probable presidential candidate, said yesterday during a visit to the U.S. territory, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Commonwealth officials are promoting a bill that would enable some agencies to access chapter 9 under federal bankruptcy law.