The UK government looks set to bailout PFI companies
The UK government has depended largely upon private financial initiative schemes (PFI) in the past in order to roll out significant numbers of new schools, new motorways and similar projects. As Gordon Brown mentioned only a few weeks ago he is looking to create or save over 100,000 public sector jobs in these troubled times. However, it has become more and more apparent that the PFI schemes, on which the government has depended on the past, are struggling to raise finance from the UK banking sector.
As a consequence it has been revealed that the UK government will step into the breach and top-up existing lending facilities in order to ensure that projects such as the M25 road widening scheme are completed on time. When you consider that this particular scheme is only one of many and could literally cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds this is another area of concern to UK taxpayers.
In effect every UK taxpayer is being asked to step into the breach and fund new projects, many of which will be brought forward by three years, in order to possibly guarantee up to 100,000 jobs. Each and every day brings some kind of new bail out or a new rescue package and more and more economists are worried about where the money will come from!
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