With more than 700 privately financed deals signed, the U.K. is abandoning its private finance initiative (PFI) system, aiming to rebalance risk transfer with project developers. The government now plans to use different mechanisms to attract an estimated $380 billion of private investment into its long-term infrastructure pipeline.
“The days of the public sector being a pushover must end,” said the U.K. chief finance minister Phillip Hammond, vowing to honor existing deals. As long as risks are fairly shared, “I remain committed to the use of public-private partnership where it delivers value for the taxpayer,” he added.