Puerto Rico Board Warns Deep Debt Cuts Needed to Steady Island
- Panel shooting to have recovery plan in place by February
- Federal panel gathered on the island for the first time
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The federal oversight board tasked with pulling Puerto Rico out of a fiscal crisis said the island can’t count on additional aid from Washington and should brace for spending cuts and a “significant” reduction of its $70 billion debt to bondholders.
At a meeting in Puerto Rico on Friday, members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico agreed to shoot for having a financial turnaround in place by the end of January. After reviewing Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla’s proposed plan, board members said it relies too heavily on federal support. They warned they’ll have to make some tough decisions in the coming months to close Puerto Rico’s chronic budget deficits.