Supreme Court agrees to hear Puerto Rico restructuring appeal

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

WASHINGTON/SAN JUAN (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Puerto Rico's bid to reinstate a law that would allow restructuring of the debt-burdened U.S. territory's public agencies.

In a major boon for a U.S. commonwealth facing some $72 billion in debt, Puerto Rico will get a chance to argue before the top U.S. court that its proposed restructuring law, invalidated by courts earlier this year, is its best chance to pull itself out of a nearly decade-long recession.

The Supreme Court will decide whether a 2014 law known as the Recovery Act conflicts with U.S. federal bankruptcy law. The court also took up a companion case filed by representatives of the publicly owned Government Development Bank (GDB) for Puerto Rico.

"We are pleased with (the) Supreme Court’s decision," said GDB President Melba Acosta. "The Recovery Act was designed to provide a structured process for Puerto Rico's government entities and their creditors to restructure the debt of those entities in an orderly fashion."

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