Public-private partnerships

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are long-term contractual agreements between the government and a private partner whereby the latter typically finances and delivers public services using a capital asset (e.g. transport or energy infrastructure, hospital or school buildings). The private party may be tasked with the design, construction, financing, operation, management and delivery of the service for a pre-determined period of time, receiving its compensation from fixed unitary payments or tolls charged to users. PPPs account for less than 15% of annual capital central government expenditure, and there is a great variation across countries in the extent to which PPPs are used: the United Kingdom has the most projects (648), followed by Korea (567) and Australia (127).