The Infrastructure Financing Authority will begin construction this year of about 20 projects, representing an investment of $292.6 million and the creation of 3,504 jobs in Puerto Rico, agency Executive Director Grace Santana said Tuesday.
    
          José J. Villamil, one of Puerto Rico’s leading economists, offered a grim assessment of the island’s fiscal health during a lecture Tuesday at Washington’s Center for Strategic & International Studies.
    
          Private sector, government and academia will convene next month to chart the agenda to revive the economy during the CIO & IT Leadership Conference, organized by the Puerto Rico Information Technology Cluster.
    
          After a challenging year when Puerto Rico’s economy remained in contraction, members of the different key industries, trade associations and economists weigh in on what 2014 will bring to the island.
    
          Puerto Rico's economy continued to be a hot button issue as growth continued to stall.
    
          At a time of slow growth and continued volatility, many countries are looking for policies that will stimulate growth and create new jobs. Information communications technology (ICT) is not only one of the fastest growing industries — directly creating millions of jobs — but it is also an important enabler of innovation and development.
    
          The owners of the Taco Maker chain in Puerto Rico are setting their sights on other markets on the U.S. mainland and in Central and Latin America to fuel growth in 2014, when the company also plans to expand on a newly introduced modular restaurant concept they believe is the cornerstone to successfully bucking local economic conditions.
    
          A little over a year ago, I made a tough decision: I decided to leave my safe, secure job to pursue a master’s degree full-time in England. This is not the sort of choice one takes lightly. It takes extensive planning and considerable tenacity.
    
          For the next two weeks, parts of San Juan will become the backdrop for the filming of “22 Jump Street,” a Hollywood production that is expected to pump $9 million into the Puerto Rican economy.
    
          Up to 40 percent of Cuba’s labor force is already working in the private sector, making the country a largely middle-class society and discrediting the notion that Fidel and Raúl Castro must die before real economic change can occur on the island.
    
          A team of federal officials representing several agencies will come to Puerto Rico next month to help the local government navigate through the economic crisis, prompting more rumblings of the possibility of a receivership for the island.
    
          Puerto Rico’s road to economic recovery is feasible, but remains a long one and depends entirely on the government’s commitment to lowering electricity costs, stabilizing fiscal revenue, reverting net outward migration, and increasing private investment, H. Calero Consulting Group Inc. expressed in the latest edition of “Compass,” its quarterly publication.
    
          Several restaurant managers and artisans in Old San Juan agreed that “La Campechada” is going to represent a positive economic boost for local artists and shops making a living in the historic city.
    
          First BanCorp., the bank holding company for FirstBank Puerto Rico, reported Wednesday net income of $15.9 million for the third quarter of 2013, or $0.08 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $122.6 million, or $0.60 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2013 and net income of $19.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the third quarter of 2012.
    
          Microfinanzas Puerto Rico President Annette Montoto said Wednesday that the microfinancing firm has been reorganizing its structure as of late — striking new strategic partnerships and reinforcing its services —to more effective cater to its entrepreneurs client base.
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