Control board meeting to OK austerity plans for Puerto Rico
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New austerity measures are coming for Puerto Rico as a federal control board overseeing the U.S. territory's finances meets Thursday to approve several fiscal plans that will serve as the island's economic blueprint for the next five years.
Drafts of the plans released Wednesday call for a 10 percent average cut to a pension system facing nearly $50 billion in liabilities. They also seek the closure of prisons, consolidation of dozens of state agencies and significant reductions in government subsidies to the island's 78 municipalities and Puerto Rico's largest public university.
The board also said Puerto Rico's government should cut sick leave and vacation pay by half.