AAFAF - Autoridad de Asesoría Financiera y Agencia Fiscal de Puerto Rico

Cofina a vista de confirmación

Prevalecen las diferencias entre favorecedores y detractores del acuerdo alcanzado

(San Juan, PR — Enero 15, 2019)

Natalie Jaresko

Natalie Jaresko, directora ejecutiva de la junta. >Brandon Cruz González / EL VOCERO

 

Mañana y el jueves será la audiencia de confirmación para el acuerdo entre el gobierno y los acreedores de la Corporación del Fondo de Interés Apremiante (Cofina) ante la jueza federal Laura Taylor Swain, el cual representa la reestructuración de un 24% de la deuda total de la Isla con los bonistas.

 

Aunque la Junta Federal de Control Fiscal, la Autoridad de Asesoría Financiera y Agencia Fiscal (Aafaf) y la mayoría de los bonistas de Cofina avalan el acuerdo, no dejan de sonar las voces en contra.

 

La jueza Swain atenderá el asunto del acuerdo en negociación al amparo de la Sección 314 (b) sobre confirmación de la Ley para la Supervisión, Administración y Estabilidad Económica de Puerto Rico (Promesa, por sus siglas en inglés).

 

Tanto el gobierno como la junta fiscal aguardan un resultado positivo hacia la confirmación.

“No aprobar este acuerdo representa un grave riesgo para el gobierno de Puerto Rico y la realidad es que los oponentes ideológicos al acuerdo no han presentado una ruta alternativa viable. Es por estas razones que anticipamos la aprobación del plan de ajuste del caso de Cofina de acuerdo a la ley y la voluntad de las partes”, dijo a EL VOCERO Christian Sobrino, director ejecutivo de la Aafaf.

 

El plan de ajuste provee una reducción de más del 32% de la deuda de $17,000 millones de Cofina y en su maduración produce aproximadamente $17,500 millones en ahorros del servicio de las obligaciones.

 

Mientras los favorecedores consideran que el acuerdo es razonable y que beneficia a los diferentes tipos de acreedores —incluidos los locales—, algunos analistas y economistas sostienen que representará una carga onerosa en el tiempo. Los bonos de Cofina se pagan con el recaudo del Impuesto de Ventas y Uso (IVU), pero en el nuevo acuerdo alcanzado se hicieron cambios en la fórmula para disponer de esos fondos y ahora deberán ser compartidos con el Fondo General.

 

Los bonistas recibirán el intercambio de unos bonos nuevos por su deuda a partir del recorte acordado. Los nuevos bonos tendrán una maduración de 40 años.

 

“Confiamos en que la transacción se aprobará en la audiencia de confirmación y que esta importante reestructuración pueda consumarse poco después”, anticipó anteriormente Natalie Jaresko, directora ejecutiva de la junta fiscal, cuando confirmó el aval mayoritario de bonistas senior y junior.

 

La semana pasada la junta fiscal informó que más de 8,000 bonistas de Cofina habían entregado papeletas de votación sobre el acuerdo, “dejando establecido el éxito del proceso de solicitud y el amplio apoyo para la reestructuración”.

 

John Mudd, especialista en casos de quiebra, dijo que aunque entiende las objeciones al acuerdo, ve poco probable que no se apruebe porque “volver a negociar esto va a ser bien difícil”. Mudd —quien afirma que Cofina como instrumento de deuda es inconstitucional— dijo que la jueza también podría conceder un tiempo extra para algunos cambios al acuerdo sometido por la junta fiscal.

 

Se espera un desfile de declaraciones en contra, incluidas las de la Unión de Trabajadores de la Industria Eléctrica y Riego (Utier) y otros sectores.

 

Uno de los que se ha sostenido en su rechazo al acuerdo es el economista Martín Guzmán, investigador asociado en la Escuela de Negocios de la Universidad de Columbia y profesor asociado en la Universidad de Buenos Aires, quien junto al Nobel de Economía Joseph Stiglitz y Pablo Gluzmann presentó hace un año un estudio comisionado por Espacios Abiertos (EA) sobre la sostenibilidad de la deuda pública de la Isla. Su análisis sostiene que la capacidad de pago del gobierno es poca y recomienda que lo más beneficioso para poder encauzar la economía local es a partir de un recorte de la deuda en torno al 80% o más.

 

Ayer, en conferencia de prensa junto a la directora ejecutiva de EA, Cecille Blondet, Guzmán dijo que si la jueza Swain confirma el acuerdo “desafortunadamente” se habrá desaprovechado la oportunidad para enderezar la situación fiscal de Puerto Rico.

 

Opinó que avalar el acuerdo de Cofina hará que los bonistas obtengan “mucho más de lo que podrían haber esperado en diciembre pasado, cuando los bonos puertorriqueños tocaron fondo”. Y añadió que el valor de reventa de los principales bonos de la Isla —como los de las obligaciones generales y de Cofina— se han recuperado “debido a un juego político sobre fondos de ayuda para desastres que se ha estado desarrollando entre la junta de supervisión, el Congreso de Estados Unidos y los tenedores de bonos”.

 

Guzmán explicó que mediante el acuerdo anunciado en el último trimestre de 2018, el gobierno de Puerto Rico deberá pagar más de $32,000 millones en servicio de deuda durante las próximas cuatro décadas. Comentó que eso comenzaría con pagos anuales de unos $420 millones en 2019, cantidad que aumentará hasta rondar los $993 millones anuales entre 2041 y 2058. Esto, reiteró, “podría poner a la Isla en una camisa de fuerza de deuda por tiempo indefinido”.

 

Blondet cuestionó cómo se verán afectadas las prestaciones de los servicios esenciales y el crecimiento económico de la Isla con el acuerdo. “¿Es razonable pensar que —ante la ausencia de futuro crecimiento económico y las proyecciones de población a la baja— los recaudos del IVU proyectados en el Plan Fiscal realmente podrán crecer a una tasa anual de casi el 4%?”, se preguntó Blondet.

 

Fuente: Cofina a vista de confirmación

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