Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico received 12 responses from infrastructure funds, U.S. private-equity firms, Canadian pensions, and developers based in Spain and India to a request for qualifications for a privatization of up to 50 years of its principal airport, near the capital, San Juan.

Moody's Investors Service downgraded Puerto Rico's general obligation rating Monday to Baa1 from A3, with a negative outlook, one day before the Puerto Rico Public Building Authority's planned pricing of $981 million of bonds.

The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership and the Puerto Rico Ports Authority have set Aug. 8 as the due date for responses to a request for qualifications for a privatization of Luis Munoz Marín International Airport in San Juan.

Puerto Rico will issue its first new-money general obligation bond sale in nearly three years, a $304 million offering that will help finance transportation infrastructure upgrades.

A consortium led by Goldman, Sachs & Co. will pay a total $1.43 billion to maintain and operate Puerto Rico's busiest toll road for 40 years.

Puerto Rico's general fund revenues from July through April total $6.4 billion, $105 million above budgeted estimates due to strong business tax and excise tax collections.

The Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico’s economic activity index increased slightly to 127.3 in March, as gasoline consumption fell for the second month in a row. Year over year, March’s 127.3 reading is down 1.8% from 129.7 in 2010. That is the smallest year-over-year decline since August 2007, according to the GDB’s March EAI report.

Puerto Rico’s general fund revenues from July through March total $5.05 billion, just $11 million more than budgeted estimates.

Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño Tuesday evening released a $9.26 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2012 that will use $285 million of sales tax borrowing to help close a $610 million ­deficit.

SAN JUAN — Puerto Rico plans to issue $295 million of new-money general obligation debt by June 30, its first such borrowing in more than two years.

Puerto Rico officials expect the island’s economy will again contract in fiscal 2011, a reversal from earlier projections that gross domestic product would increase this year at a modest rate of 0.4%.

José Otero-Freiria was only into his second week as the new debt-financing chief at the ­Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico when the commonwealth headed to the market with a general obligation refinancing deal.

Standard & Poor’s cited better-than-expected excise-tax collections in boosting Puerto Rico’s $9.2 billion of general obligation debt to BBB from BBB-minus.

Puerto Rico wants to transform more than 70 acres of rundown waterfront and industrial space in San Juan into a mixed-use community anchored by a major ­destination hotel to generate tourism in the area.

When Luis Fortuño became governor of Puerto Rico in January 2009, he promised to reduce spending, cut the government’s payroll, end structural deficits, and set realistic revenue projections.

Juan Carlos Batlle, managing director of Santander Securities Corp. will succeed Carlos Garcia as president of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, effective March 2.

Puerto Rico this week will issue $85 million of general obligation refunding bonds that will restructure debt to help lower debt-service costs in the current fiscal year.

Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño ­Monday signed into law a tax-reform initiative that could provide $1.2 billion of annual tax relief for families and corporations for the next six years.

Fitch Ratings late Wednesday assigned its first-ever rating to Puerto Rico general obligation bonds, giving them a BBB-plus. The outlook for the $9.2 billion of GOs is stable. The bonds now have a rating from all three major rating agencies.

In an effort to get more merchants to collect and pay sales taxes to the government, Puerto Rico plans to turn sales receipts there into lottery tickets.