Puerto Rico’s financial overseers approved a 30-year fiscal framework that boosts the amount potentially available to repay debt by 54 percent while extending their supervisory powers for the first time over the U.S. territory’s 78 municipalities, the Wall Street Journal reported. The oversight board steering Puerto Rico’s financial restructuring certified a fiscal plan on Thursday that includes a $19.7 billion primary surplus through 2049, an increase over last year’s $12.8 billion forecast. The surplus projection is closely watched by Puerto Rico’s bondholders as an indicator of how much cash is available to repay them through court-approved debt restructuring plans. Despite a rise in the long-term projected surplus, the five-year estimate fell to $13.7 billion from $17.9 billion, reflecting a slower rollout of disaster relief spending following the 2017 hurricane season. Roughly $5.4 billion of the projected surplus will only be available if lawmakers allow the central government to access cash generated by a workers’ compensation fund and other public corporations, said Natalie Jaresko, the board’s executive director.
