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President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that his administration has given Puerto Rico $91 billion in relief funds after Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated the island in 2017. But a new report maintains that the island has in fact received $12.6 billion, NBCNews.com reported. According to data analyzed by Puerto Rico’s top research think tank, the Center for a New Economy (CNE), the administration has allocated $42.3 billion to the island through 17 different government agencies to fund specific programs. That doesn’t mean Puerto Rico has received this amount, however. Allocated funds live in a separate global appropriations account until the government makes a legally liable commitment to use the money. Nearly half of the allocated funds — about $20.4 billion — have been obligated toward disaster assistance programs and hurricane education recovery efforts, among other services. Only $12.6 billion has been disbursed to Puerto Rico out of the total amount that was obligated. Some of that money has been used to fund the work of the Army Corps of Engineers on the island and to provide disaster loans for hurricane-stricken small businesses, among other efforts, according to the FEMA Recovery Support website.

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.

Puerto Rico’s financial oversight board yesterday unexpectedly added the island’s towns and cities to its mandate, a move that it said was aimed at trying to help them avoid insolvency, Reuters reported. To date, the federally created board has only focused on the central government of the U.S. territory, which filed for bankruptcy in 2017 as it sought to restructure about $120 billion of debt and pension obligations. Board officials said that the move was not aimed at eliminating local governments or pushing them into bankruptcy. “This is absolutely not a takeover of anything,” José Carrión, the board’s chairman, told reporters, adding that the purpose was to help cities improve their finances and services. However, Christian Sobrino, Governor Ricardo Rosselló’s representative on the board, questioned if the board had the capacity to fully oversee municipal governments.

A U.S. Appeals Court yesterday gave Puerto Rico’s federally created financial oversight board another 60 days to allow for the constitutional reappointment of its members by President Donald Trump and the Senate, Reuters reported. The board had faced a May 16 deadline set by the Boston-based First Circuit court on Feb. 15 to be validly reappointed or replaced after creditors of the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth successfully challenged members’ appointments on constitutional grounds. Last week, the White House announced the U.S. Senate will be asked to confirm the board’s current seven members. The appeals court’s order sets a July 15 deadline for that process to be completed. Both moves allow the board to continue to restructure Puerto Rico’s roughly $120 billion of debt and pension obligations under a form of bankruptcy filed two years ago in federal court. However, the board’s executive director, Natalie Jaresko, told reporters yesterday that the two-month extension may not be sufficient as the Senate confirmation process could take longer. The appeals court denied the board’s request to stay its ruling in the case until there is a final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. The board last month petitioned the High Court over the ruling, which determined the board had been unconstitutionally appointed because its members are principal U.S. officers and should have been selected by the president “with the advice and consent of the Senate.”

Puerto Rico’s longstanding pledge to pay off about $13 billion of outstanding general obligation (GO) bonds is just an unsecured promise, according to the latest lawsuits brought by the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth’s federally created financial oversight board, Reuters reported. Its action capped off a barrage of litigation this week that unsettled the $3.8 trillion U.S. municipal market, where states, cities, schools and other issuers sell debt. Complaints were filed in U.S. District Court in Puerto Rico late on Thursday against GO bondholders, including mutual funds and other institutional and individual investors who contend they have a lien on the island government’s revenue. The board countered that Puerto Rico’s pledge of its “good faith, credit and taxing power” is “nothing more than a promise to pay” and that promise is not secured by any of the government’s property. Even if a lien existed under local law, it would be avoidable under bankruptcy law, according to the lawsuits. The lawsuits were filed ahead of the second anniversary of Puerto Rico’s May 3, 2017, bankruptcy, which seeks to restructure about $120 billion of debt and pension obligations.

Puerto Rico’s power utility struck a deal with a group of creditors that seeks to allow the bankrupt U.S. commonwealth to restructure more than $8 billion of bonds, according to an announcement by government authorities on Friday, Reuters reported. A group of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) bondholders, bond insurer Assured Guaranty Corp, along with the island’s government and federally created financial oversight board, reached a restructuring support agreement that would reduce the utility’s debt by up to 32.5 percent. The move paves the way for a plan of adjustment for PREPA, which filed for a form of bankruptcy in July 2017 after a previous restructuring deal fell apart. The latest agreement, which requires support from at least 67 percent of voting bondholders to materialize, would shed about $3 billion in debt service payments over the next decade. The deal also requires the approval of a U.S. judge hearing Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy cases, as well as legislative action.

Puerto Rico’s federal oversight board sued dozens of banks and bondholders to claw back more than $1 billion in fees and interest payments tied to debt the government claims is null and void, Reuters reported. The suits, filed just before a May 2 deadline, escalate the board’s conflict with hedge funds and other investors who hold some $6 billion of Puerto Rico general-obligation debt. The cases are part of an effort by island officials to cancel large chunks of general-obligation bonds issued in 2012 and 2014. The board, and some island creditors, argue the debt was sold after the government overshot its constitutional debt limit. The latest legal challenges pose a risk for banks including Barclays Plc, Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Banco Santander SA and others that underwrote or otherwise helped engineer Puerto Rico’s debt as its financial troubles escalated. Representatives of those banks declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond.