What is Private Finance Initiative?
The '''private finance initiative''' ('''PFI''') is a way of creating [[partnership]]s between the [[Public sector|public]] and [[Private sector|private]] parts of the [[economy]]. It involves paying for public building projects (such as [[infrastructure]]) with money from [[Private company|private companies]]. It was created by the governments of [[Government of Australia|Australia]] and the [[United Kingdom]]. It was used there and in [[Spain]]. PFI and its variants have now been used in many countries as part of the wider programme of [[privatization|privatisation]] and [[financialization|financialisation]]. This has been because of an increased need for [[accountability]] and [[efficiency]] for the spending of public money.<ref name=barlow>{{cite journal |first1=James |last1=Barlow |first2=Jens K. |last2=Roehrich | first3=Steve |last3=Wright |year=2010 |title=De facto privatisation or a renewed role for the EU? Paying for Europe's healthcare infrastructure in a recession |journal=[[Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine]] |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=51–55 |doi=10.1258/jrsm.2009.090296|pmid=20118334 |pmc=2813788 }}</ref> PFI has also been used simply to avoid reporting [[cost]]s and [[debt]] on the [[balance sheet]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2012/01/pfi-still-being-used-to-keep-costs-off-balance-sheet/ |title=PFI 'still being used to keep costs off balance sheet' |access-date=2016-01-31 |archive-date=2014-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141112035405/http://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2012/01/pfi-still-being-used-to-keep-costs-off-balance-sheet/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Economy of Australia]] [[Category:Economy of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Public administration]] {{politics-stub}}