PPPs: Some Accounting and Reporting Issues

Public-private partnerships (PPPs) refer to arrangements where the private sector supplies infrastructure assets and infrastructure-based services that traditionally have been provided by the government. PPPs can be used to build and operate both economic infrastructure, such as roads, railways and ports, and social infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals. For the private sector, PPPs present business opportunities in areas from which it was in many cases previously excluded. For the government, PPPs can offer better value for money than public investment and government service provision if private sector managers are more skillful and innovative, and PPPs are therefore more efficient than public investment and government service provision. The ability to levy user charges—which may be difficult for the government—can also add to efficiency.