Board certifies the Commonwealth’s 2023 Fiscal Plan: debt toward 34 billion and a Medicaid cliff

On April 3, 2023, the Financial Oversight Board certifies the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s 2023 Fiscal Plan, Volume 1 (Transformation Plan), under section 201 of PROMESA. The document is addressed to the Governor and the Legislature and is not a Title III plan of adjustment: it does not classify claims or discharge debts. The Board clarifies that it is neither an audit nor an opinion on the Government’s financial statements.

In the achievements summary, the Board pegs pre-PROMESA public debt at about 71 billion dollars — roughly 24,000 per resident — and says that, with restructurings, it is on a path toward about 34 billion. The Commonwealth’s plan of adjustment, already effective, saves more than 50 billion in debt service and cuts outstanding obligations to a little over 7 billion from about 33 billion. COFINA saved about 17.5 billion; HTA about 3 billion; PRASA about 400 million. The text speaks of more than 70 billion saved in debt service and of cutting the debt burden by about 24,000 per person.

On federal funds, the plan notes more than 100 billion in recovery and stimulus and, in another passage, more than 120 billion committed — equivalent to about 150 percent of 2022 GNP. It warns of the Medicaid cliff: the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2023 raises federal funds for five years (FY2023–FY2027); Puerto Rico would be eligible for more than 19 billion in that window. From October 2027, CBO estimates the federal cap falls from about 4 billion to about 500 million a year. Allocated or committed is not disbursed. The plan does not turn the cliff into theft.

What remains is the April 3 certification, Volume 1’s debt and Medicaid figures, and a no to inventing creditor classes. A reader who wants the certified PDF has the URL at the foot. This is not original reporting.

Fuente: Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico. PDF