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Puerto Rico's Economic Troubles - 5/23/16

Perhaps you’ve heard that all is not well in Puerto Rico.  This has been the case for several years and circumstances are poised to deteriorate further.  As reported by Bloomberg, the Planning Board, which calculates the island’s economic growth, recently released its fiscal twenty seventeen forecast. 

The Board estimates a two percent decline in gross national product for the fiscal year beginning July first.  The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico’s economy last expanded in fiscal twenty twelve, when it grew by half a percent.  Since two thousand and seven, Puerto Rico’s economy has shrunk by nearly seventeen percent and the government now owes seventy billion dollars. 

Many Puerto Ricans have responded by leaving the island.  A record number of residents left to the U.S. mainland last year and another two hundred and forty thousand Puerto Ricans are projected to leave by twenty twenty-five.  At eleven point seven percent, Puerto Rico’s unemployment rate is higher than in any of the fifty U.S. states and more than double the national average.

On May second, Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank failed to pay bondholders nearly 400 million dollars.  The Commonwealth and its agencies owe another 2 billion dollars in principal and interest on July 1st. 

Anirban Basu, Chariman Chief Executive Officer of Sage Policy Group (SPG), is one of the Mid-Atlantic region's leading economic consultants. Prior to founding SPG he was Chairman and CEO of Optimal Solutions Group, a company he co-founded and which continues to operate. Anirban has also served as Director of Applied Economics and Senior Economist for RESI, where he used his extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic region to support numerous clients in their strategic decision-making processes. Clients have included the Maryland Department of Transportation, St. Paul Companies, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Players Committee and the Martin O'Malley mayoral campaign.