Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla plans to present a 10-year fiscal plan to the Oversight Board at its second meeting Friday.
This year's Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act calls for a fiscal plan that, among other things, lists steps to bring about fiscal responsibility, regain access to capital markets, fund essential public services, fund pensions, and achieve a sustainable debt burden.
Though the act calls for a five-year plan, it indicated that the board may request a plan of greater duration. At its first meeting on Sept. 30 the board directed Puerto Rico's government to provide a plan at the mid-October meeting without specifying the time frame.
Under PROMESA the governor is normally barred from submitting a budget to the island's legislature unless the board has approved the fiscal year's fiscal plan. The board has the right to waive this.
Victor Suárez Meléndez, executive director of the Financial Advisory Authority and Fiscal Agency and chief of staff Grace Santana Balado are travelling with the governor and may aid in the presentation.
The governor said he intends to explain to the board how a focus on economic recovery influences the plan and to tell the board that government benefits for Puerto Ricans must not be disrupted.
Also part of the agenda Friday, the board plans to ask for additional fiscal plans from other covered entities. This would include some or all of Puerto Rico's public corporations.
The governor and his team will also provide an update about Puerto Rico's current fiscal and financial condition. They will take questions from the board.
In the agenda, the board said that the plan to be presented is called the "Fiscal and Economic Growth Plan." PROMESA simply refers to a "Fiscal Plan." The commonwealth government used "Fiscal and Economic Growth Plan" to describe a plan released in September 2015. This plan was released in a revised form in January of this year.
The Oversight Board will meet on the 20th floor of the headquarters of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2 Broadway, New York, N.Y. at 8:30 a.m. on Friday. The meeting is open to the public.
It will be webcast at http://www.juntasupervision.pr.gov/ and the recorded meeting will be posted on the site after the meeting is over.
