Government

Bryan Calls Senate Into Session Dec. 3 to Ratify New Attempt at Refinancing Territory's Debt

Governor Albert Bryan has called the Senate into session Dec. 3 in a new attempt to approve a debt refinancing plan that the governor has said would be beneficial to the territory. Mr. Bryan pulled the bond sale from the market late September after failing to secure investors. Multiple publications covering the bond market said the failure was due to the deal's capped interest rate of 3.75 percent. At the time, the governor said his administration would continue to seek funding opportunities. The bill gives Mr. Bryan the authority to enter into a 20-year contract to refinance the territory's Internal Revenue Matching Fund, or rum cover-over funds, in what the administration says will yield a lower interest rate and allow the government to re-enter the bond market. In the first three years, the agreement would see the government receiving $85 million, $150 million of which will be monies from the territory's Debt Service Reserve Fund that was part of a fail-safe system, called a lockbo...