U.S. Virgin Islands

The long bond on the exempt $955 million tranche have traded stronger in the secondary market since pricing.

Investors pulled more from municipal bond mutual funds in the latest week, with Refinitiv Lipper reporting $2.038 billion of outflows, up from $1.503 billion of outflows in the previous week.

Holders tendered about 75% of U.S. Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority bonds that were eligible for a tender offer.

The Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority and Matching Fund Special Purpose Securitization Corporation plans to price $793.025 million of tax-exempt and $124.960 million of taxables.

The USVI government intends to refund the remainder of its outstanding bonds at the end of March.

If all goes to plan, officials say the deal would prevent the islands' pension system from running out of money.

Virgin Islands Sen. Kurt Vialet said he expects the legislature to approve the refunding bill by Monday. The current bill does not include an interest rate cap that killed a refunding deal attempted in September 2020.

While challenges abound — shuttered industries, outmigration and COVID — there are positive signs the territory’s economy can be boosted.

The territory’s economy has continued to struggle in the past two years, with the islands’ employment down 9.5%.

This would be fourth attempt to refund the islands' debts. Moody's Investors Service projects the island's pension fund will run out of cash by the start of fiscal 2024.