Puerto Rico

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew’s recommendation Tuesday to grant Puerto Rico municipalities and public entities access to Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection failed to convince Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that the administration has the clear plan that’s needed before Congress can act to help the territory.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority moved a step closer Tuesday to cutting costs through the use of natural gas rather than oil for electricity production, as a Federal regulator authorized marine terminal off of Aguirre.

Leaders and politicians of Puerto Rican descent on Tuesday called on President Obama to help negotiate a fair debt deal with the island’s creditors and explore a Federal Reserve loan.

Puerto Rico wound up with a $703 million deficit in 2015, a fiscal year it had budgeted to be at least superficially balanced, according to Puerto Rico Secretary of the Treasury Juan Zaragoza Gómez.

A source close to the Puerto Rico government, disputing a report that restructuring is avoidable, said specific debt decisions will be delayed until at least least mid-September.

Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s proposed partial moratorium on debt payments may foreshadow the commonwealth’s strategy for restructuring the island’s estimated $72 billion of debt.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority has five weeks to bridge remaining differences with its forbearing bondholders over how to deal with its $8.1 billion of bond debt.

The probability of a Puerto Rico default that would cause “substantial” losses “is approaching 100%,” Moody’s Investors Service said.

Municipal bond funds have reported outflows for 11 straight weeks, as investor confidence gave way to concerns over the credit of such issuers such as Puerto Rico and Chicago and the probability of rising interest rates.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority board of directors announced Tuesday it named Javier Quintana Mendez the authority’s new executive director.