Madagascar Development

Puerto Rico’s revenue collections for the first month of the fiscal year came in above budgeted estimates, a positive start after receipts came in below the island’s projections last year. The commonwealth’s general fund revenue in July totaled $665.1 million, $7.4 million more than expected, with tax receipts on foreign manufacturers and business coming in better than anticipated, Treasury Secretary Juan Zaragoza said in a statement Monday. Revenue collections for July were $38.6 million more than a year earlier. July revenue from sales and use taxes totaled $209.5 million, with $119.7 million going to repay sales-tax bonds, called Cofinas by their Spanish acronym, and about $90 million going to the general fund, according to Zaragoza. Puerto Rico collected  $9.7 billion  of general-fund revenue in fiscal 2016, $117 million below budgeted estimates, as individual and corporate tax receipts lagged projections. Michelle Kaske Puerto Rico’s July Revenue Comes in $7.4 ...

One of the oddities about Puerto Rico is that it falls under the jurisdiction of the New York Federal Reserve. And this week, the New York Fed, which flagged some of Puerto Rico's debt problems back in 2012, has begun publishing a series of blog posts about what's ailing the  debt-laden commonwealth  -- and what the island needs to do to get its economy back on its feet. The New York Fed kicked off its Liberty Street Economics blogs by declaring that "ultimately, achieving fiscal sustainability depends greatly on reinvigorating economic growth, which has been unsatisfactory in Puerto Rico in the past decade." It said that stronger growth would boost tax revenues, providing more room to reduce the deficit while maintaining essential public services, and gradually bend the debt-to-GDP trajectory in a more favorable direction." Still to come: How to do that. For now, members of Congress and many creditors of Puerto Rico are calling for curbs on government spend...

Puerto Ricans have been hit with another increase in electric bills as the U.S. territory's power company struggles to stay afloat. The heavily indebted Electric Power Authority says the increase implemented on Monday will generate some $94 million this fiscal year. Clients on average will see a $6 monthly increase in bills, which already average twice those on the U.S. mainland and have been blamed for suppressing economic development. Puerto Rico also has seen an increase in blackouts blamed on outdated infrastructure that the cash-strapped company has struggled to replace. Puerto Rico hit with new power bill increase amid crisis

Uber’s prolonged land war in China is over: Uber’s China unit will merge with competitor Didi Chuxing, ending a fierce multi-billion-dollar battle for the largest ridesharing market in the world. As part of the deal, Uber and its Chinese investors will reportedly receive 20% of the merged company, newly valued at $35 billion. Meanwhile, Didi will invest $1 billion in Uber at a $68 billion valuation. The deal ends months of speculation as to whether the two companies might come to deal or continue to bleed each other dry.  Bloomberg  first reported the news and sources confirmed the details to FORBES. Both Uber and Didi have shown a remarkable ability to raise capital. Uber recently raised $3.5 billion from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, capping off a  $5.5 billion round , while Didi announced a  $7.3 billion round , including debt and a surprise  $1 billion investment from American computing giant  Apple . Both companies were...