Board certifies the Commonwealth’s 2020 Fiscal Plan amid the pandemic

On May 27, 2020, the Financial Oversight and Management Board certified the 2020 Fiscal Plan for Puerto Rico. The PDF disclaimer is explicit: this fiscal plan is not a Title III Plan of Adjustment; it does not classify claims, discharge debts or extinguish liens.

The text places Puerto Rico after the 2019 protests and Ricardo Rosselló’s resignation, the southwestern earthquakes late that year, and — only two months later — the economic shutdown from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Board describes having mobilized, with the Government, a $787 million package to support front-line workers and small businesses; actions for a $400 million advance on federal economic-impact payment funds administered by Hacienda; and a liquidity facility of up to $185 million for municipalities affected by deferred revenue collection.

Beyond the short term, the plan insists on structural reforms — human capital and welfare, K-12 education, ease of doing business, and energy transformation — and on fiscal measures for a cheaper, more transparent government, while mitigating Medicaid and pension cost growth. At the same time it recognizes that, despite more budget control and reporting, the Government “still failed to achieve meaningful economic growth through structural reforms” at the pace PROMESA requires.

The document warns that 2020 financial projections are not sustainable long-term without deep changes, and that even fully implemented the plan would not raise Puerto Rico to the prosperity level of the poorest states on the continent. Projections, relief packages and liquidity facilities are not line-by-line verified disbursements. Allocated is not disbursed; the plan does not invent a “theft” of federal funds.

Cousin: none versus 2021+ plans. Primary: certified FOMB PDF, May 27, 2020 (AAFAF/docs.pr.gov repository).