Puerto Rico Governor Seeks to Move $400M into Opportunity Zone Projects

Nationwide, most of the areas face elevated poverty or limited household income.

Source: finance-commerce.com

Puerto Rico (P.R.) is seeking approval from the U.S. to put about $400 million of federal aid toward opportunity zone projects. These projects allow investors an ample tax incentive, while creating the opportunity for robust growth in stressed economies.

P.R. Gov., Ricardo Rossello, speaking at an opportunity zone summit in San Juan on Tuesday, said the commonwealth’s government was working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They intend to create a fund that will invest community development block grant funds in these projects around P.R. There is nearly $9.7 billion in disaster relief money that is currently held in reserve for P.R. that will come from the HUD program, states the commonwealth. Details on the investment were not provided.

Hurricane Maria caused devastation across the vast parts of the island. P.R. has been struggling, looking for financial relief to help redevelop socially and economically. Over 98% of P.R. qualified as an opportunity zone.

Investing in opportunity zones allows investors the incentive of saving on capital gains tax, while providing the opportunity for development in areas suffering from poverty and unemployment.