Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico's governor, vowing to repair the island's damaged credit after Standard & Poor's cut its ratings to junk, said the commonwealth is going ahead with a bond sale in the next few weeks.

Congressional and Treasury sources said Puerto Rico won't get direct financial help in the wake of its downgrade.

Puerto Rico bonds were trading on pace with levels seen in recent weeks, market participants said, lending credibility to the argument by some that a downgrade to junk had been long-anticipated by the municipal market.

Standard & Poor's downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation bonds to a speculative rating, pointing to what it said was the commonwealth's limited liquidity.

Puerto Rico's plan to adopt a balanced budget may not be enough to sway the ratings agencies considering downgrading the commonwealth.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla said Friday that he planned to propose a budget with little or no deficit for the coming fiscal year.

Assured Guaranty and National Public Finance Guarantee have sufficient capital positions to withstand a potential downgrade of Puerto Rico bonds, Standard & Poor's said in a note Wednesday.

Puerto Rico general obligations have outperformed AAA-rated GOs as municipal bonds have rallied this month.

Former Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation chair Sheila Bair has been named a director at Banco Santander, whose subsidiary is active in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico unemployment rate jumped to 15.4% in December from 14.7% in November.

Standard & Poor's put Puerto Rico's barely investment grade general obligation rating on rating watch negative late Friday, focusing on what it said was lowered cash reserves at the Government Development Bank.

The Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has signed into law bills setting up a city sales tax bond structure.

Puerto Rico has a tremendous amount of debt when looked at from some angles but its debt burden appears less severe from others.

The federal government approved spending $2.5 million for a plebiscite on Puerto Rico's political status.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla has proposed several changes to oversight of the island's electrical system partly aimed at lowering electricity prices to strengthen the economy.

Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla reached an accord with Puerto Rican mayors concerning cities' bank deposits and a municipal sales and use tax bond structure, key elements in his efforts to reduce the deficit and protect the island's investment grade credit rating.

Puerto Rico revenues in the first six months of the fiscal year were 2.1% ahead of expectations while spending in the first five months was 3.2% below expectations.

Puerto Rico general fund revenues jumped 26% in December from a year earlier. The increase was largely anticipated and beat budget projections by just 0.1%.

The Puerto Rico government is taking steps to shift up to $2.8 billion in public deposits from private banks to the government's bank, the Government Development Bank of Puerto Rico.

Municipal bond analysts are generally positive about Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García Padilla's first year in office, though they voice concern about the economy and access to the bond market.