On Friday the Supreme Court agreed to listen to Puerto Rico's request to reinstate a law which might allow the U.S. territory a chance to restructure $20 billion of their massive $72 billion debt.

Attorneys for the commonwealth asked the court to take immediate action as the economic situation of the island is dire.

According to The New York Times, the legal petition emphasized Puerto Rico’s obvious inability to pay its debts. Previously, the governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, said his island's debt was not payable. Garcia Padilla said, "This is not politics, this is math,” the Times reports.

Melba Acosta, the president of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico, expressed her satisfaction with Friday’s decision. According to Reuters, she said, "We are pleased with (the) Supreme Court’s decision."

"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," she said.

Puerto Rico is barred from declaring bankruptcy. After the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in June, the territory could be able to place into bankruptcy agencies such as the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority and the Puerto Rico Highways & Transportation Authority.

While the U.S. commonwealth fights to restructure its debt, the Puerto Rico unit of Wal-Mart has just sued the island’s government in an attempt to overturn a new tax which the company sees as too high.

Bloomberg reports, back in May, Puerto Rico enacted a law that increases a tax on imported goods from 2 percent to 6.5 percent for local companies with gross revenues of over $2.75 billion.

Wal-Mart, Puerto Rico’s largest private employer, feels that the new tax is unfair.