Puerto Rico in Distress

ABI Analysis

The concentration of illegal housing in Puerto Rico presents a vexing dilemma for local and federal authorities already overwhelmed by the task of rebuilding an economically depressed island after its worst natural disaster in nine decades, according to a Reuters analysis. Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló has stressed the need to “build back better,” a sentiment echoed by U.S.

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board told the bankrupt island’s governor on Monday to revise his proposed fiscal turnaround plan to add more detail on labor and other reforms, and to create room in the budget for a $1.3 billion emergency fund, Reuters reported. In a letter to Governor Ricardo Rosselló, the federally appointed, seven-member panel set a Feb.

Dozens of entrepreneurs, made newly wealthy by blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are heading en masse to Puerto Rico this winter, the New York Times reported.

Puerto Rico’s bankrupt power utility, PREPA, is close to replacing former Executive Director Ricardo Ramos, a member of the utility’s board said yesterday during a panel discussion on the U.S. territory’s storm-ravaged energy sector, Reuters reported.

Other Resources

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.