Another day, another bailout

This time, it is the PFIs....

The government could have to bail out Private Finance Initiative projects to the tune of £4bn in the next 18 months, an industry spokesman has warned. Tim Pearson, of the PPP (public-private partnership) Forum, said the recession was limiting loans to firms on PFI projects like schools and hospitals.

There has been speculation that April's Budget may change PFI rules. PFI schemes involve private companies paying for construction and maintenance of public infrastructure projects. In return, the firms are then given payments from the state for between 20 and 30 years

Help me out here. A while back, I remember a documentary about PFIs. It was on C4. Does anyone else remember it. At the time, the program gave a very stark warning about these off-balance sheet operations.