Tag: H Calero Consulting Group

10 years after the government shutdown

Fiscal budgets everywhere seek to balance the basic needs of the population with the resources available to the government. In PR’s case, the fiscal challenges are even starker as meeting its current debt obligations—without any viable economic alternative to back it up—will continue to drive up migration, thus further contracting economic activity and the current tax base. In this sense, the Commonwealth is facing a dire chicken and egg problem.  Stopping the population drainage will require positive economic prospects, yet to materialize. Not meeting its debt obligations will feed more uncertainty to the business community and certainly continue to deny the island access to capital markets, necessary to promote economic growth and development. All this makes it difficult to further reduce outward migration. Meanwhile, the government will need to continue to adjust its spending pattern to the prevailing socio-demographic profile of the resident population, a task easier said than done.

Analysis of recommended PR fiscal budget in FY 2017

With total public debt of around 101% of GNP in FY2016, an extremely high figure for Puerto Rico, the question is not whether the government should cut its budget deficit but by how much and how to cut wisely. To bond markets’ consternation, Governor Alejandro García Padilla announced to the world last year the island could not pay its public debt and would likely default on its debt service payments. Fiscal policy must be driven by reason, responsible policymaking, and cost-benefit-based analysis of government’s spending priorities. After 10 years, PR’s economic growth is still negative; private and public investment is at its nadir; retired public workers expect full pensions and reliable health coverage; and US Congress threatens to impose a unilateral Fiscal Control Board to regain fiscal discipline and ensure public debt is paid. Will the recommended budget protect Puerto Ricans from various risks: unemployment, destitution, illness, and lack of education? What will it take to recover a growth path in the island?

Review of Global, US & PR economies in FY 2015 plus forecasts from 2016 to 2018

The past few weeks have seen an unprecedented spike in uncertainty over the Island’s long-term prospects. The combination of a pending default on public debt, political wrangling both in Washington and San Juan, and continuous negative news about the economy has opened the door to short-term politics and the prospects of a full-blown crisis. Ultimately, the economy will adjust to the existing reality on the ground however unpleasant this may be with the real test only just beginning. The policy and institutional framework will have to be rebuilt pretty much from scratch as constrained budgets, lower economic activity, lower population, and impoverished consumers are here to stay, at least for a while. Striking the right balance will require a significant amount of creativity and courage but the alternative is definitely more daunting. Coming to grips with the hard facts that public debt is a debt we all must pay is only the beginning. What will it take to chart a path to solvency and growth in PR?

Analysis of the proposed Federal Oversight Board for PR

Chairman Rob Bishop of the US House Committee on Natural Resources submitted a draft bill on March 29, 2016 to “establish an Oversight Board to assist the Government of PR, including its instrumentalities, in managing its public finances, and for other purposes.” The bill grants broad powers to a 5 member Board, charged with the task of proposing necessary reforms to solve PR’s fiscal crisis. It will audit the central government and its corporations; create efficiencies, and reforms with transparent fiscal plans and balanced budgets while improving services; and facilitate a court supervised debt restructuring if voluntary agreements are not achieved (but not under the umbrella of Chapter 9 since that would imply “a bailout of PR on the backs of US taxpayers”.) Why does PR need a fiscal board? Will the Board be subject to the claims of numerous bondholders all requesting priority in their debt payments? Or, will it be accompanied by a package of federal assistance to stabilize the Commonwealth’s liquidity problems and set out a roadmap for economic growth?

Where and what are China’s investments

Since 1980, China’s economic policy was to become one of the top three economies in the world. As of 2015, China ranked second in GDP with an $11.4 trillion economy, behind the $18 trillion US GDP. Although the Chinese economy currently faces the onset of a permanent slowdown (5% today compared with its past double-digit real economic growth), that still represents more economic output than in 2007. And because the Chinese economy is so much larger now, we have seen growing amounts of investment flowing from China into Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Most of these investments have been in infrastructure and undertaken by Chinese state-owned firms. How much have they invested in LAC? Is the Caribbean soon to become a beachhead for China? China is now moving its economy from export and investment-led growth to domestic consumption and service-led sectors. Will this change represent positive or negative effects for the global economy, and for LAC in particular? Jamaica, Trinidad, Nicaragua, and Peru, among others, have benefitted from Chinese investments, then why not Puerto Rico?