For years CUPE has pointed out that public-private partnerships are a dangerous scam to hide government debt while propping up corporate profits. It seems the International Monetary Fund agrees. The IMF is set to criticize the British government’s use of P3s to deliver vital public services.
The report is expected to criticize the financial sleight of hand that governments use to keep the borrowing costs off their books.
It’s helped Britain borrow more than 100 billion pounds without any of it showing up as debt on the government’s balance sheet. Meanwhile the companies that took on the debt have the loans government-guaranteed and have their profits guaranteed as well.
But according to IMF managing director Dr. Anne Krueger, governments had ‘no business’ hiding public-private partnership financing.