Official: Puerto Rico general fund revenue is $600M below estimates

Puerto Rico's government says overall general fund revenue collected this past fiscal year was more than $600 million below what was estimated amid a worsening economic crisis.

Treasury Secretary Juan Zaragoza said Friday that the government collected nearly $9 billion for fiscal 2014-2015. That represents a $76 million drop compared with the previous year.

He blamed the drop on a variety of economic issues including the elimination of a gross receipts tax in 2014.

Zaragoza said the general fund faces a deficit of more than $700 million.

Puerto Rico is entering its ninth year of recession and is struggling with a $72 billion public debt load that the governor of the U.S. territory has said is unpayable.