Effect of Project Finance on Public Infrastructure Project Appraisal – Case study: Hailuoto Causeway
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
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Date
2020
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Mcode
Degree programme
Finance
Language
en
Pages
80
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Abstract
Public investment project appraisal is based on cost-benefit analysis of both the social and economic costs and benefits of a project. By taking into account both the social and economic effects, government agencies in charge of investing public funds aim to reach the socio-economically most advantageous end result. Cost-benefit analysis compares projects based on the present values of their direct socio-economic costs and benefits but does not include evaluation of potential project finance arrangements. Project costs are implicitly assumed to be paid when the asset is ready for use, while the benefits produced by the project are received over a long forecast period. Including an evaluation of available financing arrangements can provide valuable additional information to public decision makers for allocating scarce public funds. The aim of this study was to complement the information provided by cost-benefit analysis by examining two research questions: (1) ”Effect of Project Finance on the Socio-economic Profitability of the Hailuoto Causeway project” and (2) “Expediting Project Start with off-budget Financing”. The research was carried out as a quantitative case study, using data about the socio-economic benefits and costs of the Hailuoto Causeway project estimated for the official project appraisal report. Three financial models were built to simulate (1) direct budget financing of the project as well as (2) debt financing via a public project company and (3) procurement of the project via a comprehensive service agreement, with the project financed and built by a private service provider. The effect of expedited project start was examined by testing delayed budget-financed project timelines against a PPP service agreement starting on time. The results indicate that a long-term, debt-funded project finance arrangement can substantially improve the socio-economic profitability of a project when evaluated based on present values. The most significant factors affecting the effectiveness of project financing arrangements are the cost of debt financing, the societal discount rate used, length of the project’s investment period as well as potential efficiency advantages of the private service provider in the PPP model. Private financing can be employed to finance projects outside public investment budgets. The results from the case study indicate that a budget constraint would need to delay the project by two to four years for a private financing arrangement to be socio-economically preferable over budget financing. Based on the results different project characteristics call for different financing arrangements. Thus, an evaluation of available project financing arrangements should be considered to complement the cost-benefit analysis of a project.Description
Thesis advisor
Torstila, SamiKeywords
cost-benefit analysis, project finance, public private partnership, public infrastructure, public sector, infrastructure, Finland