WASHINGTON - Puerto Rico's Governor is asking Congress to extend protections against debt lawsuits as the island charts a path for economic recovery. Governor Ricardo Rosselló submitted a fiscal plan to Puerto Rico's "control" board requesting the board ask Congress to continue debt lawsuit protection beyond May to the end of 2017.

"There should really be a moratorium on debt payments until ‎the debt is restructured,” noted Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA. LeCompte, a global debt expert, testified before Puerto Rico's oversight board last November. "No matter what, Puerto Rico needs continued protection and more breathing space until this debt crisis is resolved.”

Congress included the original stay in the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, passed last summer to address Puerto Rico's debt crisis. The board then extended the stay from February 15 to May 1 but congressional action is required to extend it further.

Read the governor's fiscal plan

Read more about the fiscal plan