This argument naturally presupposes most of the broader arguments in favor of the privatization of public services. The investment recovery aspect of any PPP project is literally debt — the state has to pay for it, one way or another, usually by shifting the cost to the public at large in the form of fees. When private proponents finance their projects that are being developed under PPP schemes, their financing costs are higher than most governments’ would be. According to this yardstick, many PPP projects are more expensive than a conventional public works project would be, sometimes by a wide margin. Finally, PPP projects can and do sometimes change government policy priorities, and the reason for this is obvious.

Source: Manila Times December 26, 2020 16:30 UTC