Above: Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Padilla Garcia (centre) at a press conference Wednesday)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Puerto Rico Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla has designated Melba Acosta Febo as the new president of the island’s Government Development Bank.

Acosta Febo, an attorney and CPA by trade, will maintain her role as principal official of Public Finance, Garcia Padilla said. She had been serving as Puerto Rico’s Treasury Secretary.

The designation was part of a wider change to his economic team that included the appointment of Luis Cruz as director of the Office of Management and Budget and Juan Zaragoza Gomez as Secretary of the Treasury.

“”In these 21 months, my tax team has worked tirelessly to address the fiscal challenge we received when we assumed the government; we have addressed the general fund deficit, liquidity and solvency of BGF public corporations,” the Governor said. “We are reporting for the first time in over 20 years, a balanced budget while focusing resources on priority areas of health, safety, education and economic development. We can not deviate from that route. So these movements in my fiscal team come to strengthen our public policy of fiscal discipline, dismiss staff, meeting the basic needs of our citizens and promoting economic growth of our country.”

The appointments need to be confirmed by Puerto Rico’s senate.