"I now understand that the project is to be treated 'on balance sheet' "
as i understand it
Gordon Brown has brought in rules to state how much the govt could borrow over an economic cycle
PFI schemes are effectivley an attempt to borrow money with actually having to borrow it, thus keeping it off that balance sheet and therefore making G Brown look prudent
I.E. we pay an hourly rate for the use of the "privately owned" tankers instead of just buying them and paying loan/bond repayments
the down side to this is that governments can borrow money VERY cheaply
the question is therefore if this PFI scheme is looking ever more expensive, and now has to be classed as Govt borrowing, why don't the govt just buy the things?