Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia said today that he will protect the payment of pensions to public employees despite attempts by the Fiscal Control Board (JCF) to implement cuts along this line amid the restructuring of public debt.
“Public pensions in Puerto Rico must be honored. They must be paid in full. The government must pay them in full. My approach to the Board is that it is not necessary and it is not legally required that the Board should include a cut in pensions in the adjustment plan it is submitting to it or which it has submitted to court today for approval, ”Pierluisi said during a press conference at La Fortalesa.
The president even proposed that they would seek financial resources to finance pensions in the event that the Board insists on cuts.
“If it includes a cut anyway, as my commitment is that in the way that I can legally protect this sector I will protect it. Either way, after it is legal, I will protect pensions … We will seek the resources we have to look for, so that there is no cut in public pensions in Puerto Rico, ”he said.
The JCF has proposed an 8.5% cut in pensions in excess of $ 1,500 a month to public employees. The tax authority planned to submit today an adjustment plan to restructure country debt that would include this decrease in these benefits to certain government sector employees.
“In other jurisdictions public debt has been adjusted and restructured without the need to cut pensions. And if there is a case where this is justified it is in Puerto Rico because the main public pension system in Puerto Rico was reformed radically in 2013. that is, before the Board arrived it had already impacted the public pension sector on the island and there is no need to impact that sector again, ”the governor added.