Valuing state assets - State firms about more than money

Yesterday’s announcement on the sale of State assets was sweetened by a troika concession that €1 billion of the targeted €3bn may be used to fund job-creation projects.

The programme for government proposed selling assets worth €2bn, the troika wanted a package that would generate €5bn so the final figure is a compromise made all the more palatable by the jobs creation element.

Whether the assets earmarked for auction — Bord Gáis Éireann’s retail division and some of the ESB’s power generation facilities — have the potential to realise €2bn remains to be seen. Repeated Government promises that these resources will not be sold at fire-sale prices are reassuring — though how patient the troika might be in realising optimum prices also remains to be seen.