Puerto Rico

Fitch Ratings Tuesday downgraded $1.3 billion of Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority senior revenue debt to BBB from BBB-plus.

The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnership Authority last week received eight responses from infrastructure investment firms looking to bid on a potential long-term lease agreement for the commonwealth’s busiest roadway.

Puerto Rico gets nearly 70% of its electricity from oil, and residents there confront energy bills that are about twice what consumers pay on the U.S. mainland. The territory is trying to change that.

Puerto Rico is gearing up to issue approximately $2.55 billion of restructuring and new-money debt before the end of the year amid signs of rising economic activity.

Puerto Rico lawmakers Monday began hammering out a fiscal 2011 budget in conference committee after both chambers last week added changes to the spending plan.

Puerto Rico's economic activity index increased for the fourth month in a row to 130.3, a 02% increase from the prior month.

Puerto Rico's ability to pass on-time budgets is poised to gain traction as the Legislature anticipates voting on a $9.13 billion spending plan for fiscal 2011.

University of Puerto Rico officials and students reached an agreement this week that will end a two-month strike that shut down campuses and will allow the university to complete the school semester.

Puerto Rico is embarking on a new school construction program that will incorporate a public-private partnership approach financed with $750 million of taxable qualified school construction bonds.

Here comes the private sector.

Puerto Rico will refund prior Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority debt next week before heading to market with a combined new-money and refunding sales-tax bond deal.

The University of Puerto Rico is seeking more revenue from its student body to help close an estimated $166 million deficit for the upcoming school year and support capital projects.

MIAMI — With a clear need to invest in infrastructure and a large budget deficit, Puerto Rico is poised to launch its first public-private partnership projects.

After scrapping a plan to get more taxes from video lottery terminals, Puerto Rico officials must find $220 million from additional spending cuts and revenue initiatives before the end of the month to balance a proposed $9.2 billion fiscal 2011 budget.

An ongoing student strike at the University of Puerto Rico has placed the school semester on hold, but the standoff does not affect its ability to repay its $569 million of outstanding bonds, according to a university official.

Puerto Rico’s economic activity index for April increased by 0.8% over March, as payroll employment rose for the third month in a row.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority today will issue nearly $325 million of tax-exempt new-money revenue bonds to pay down outstanding lines of credit with local banks in Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico lawmakers are now reviewing Gov. Luis Fortuño’s plan to regulate video lottery terminals in order to generate $220 million of needed revenue for the fiscal 2011 budget.

The U.S. House of Representatives Thursday evening passed a bill that would allow Puerto Rico citizens to vote on the island's political status, including the option to become the 51st state.

In his first year in office last year, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuño reduced government spending and cut the island’s payroll while at the same time raising taxes and implementing property taxes.