B.C. P3 lender burning through government loan guarantees

by mike_yvr | February 8, 2009 at 03:45 pm

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The Belgian-French bank that's supplying the financing to several public-private partnership (P3) projects in British Columbia has exhausted half of the government guarantees it received in a September bailout.

Dexia is a financial partner in the Royal Jubilee, Kelowna and Vernon Jubilee hospital expansions as well as the Golden Ears Bridge.

Dexia has huge financial exposure to the alleged Madoff investment fraud and may be broken apart by its government creditors.

Earlier this week another P3 lender -- Macquarie Group -- revealed that it would have to write-down equity and investments in toll highways and other interests by about $1.2 billion (CAD).

The news came just one day after the B.C. government announced plans to expand the scope of the Macquarie-led Port Mann Bridge P3 at a cost of $3.3 billion.

Belgian-French financial services group Dexia (DEXI.BR) has used up about half of the 150 billion euro ($192.1 billion) state guarantees for its borrowings.

Dexia had used up guarantees totalling 75.35 billion euros by Thursday, according to a posting on the website of the Belgian national bank. (http:www.nbb.be/DOC/DQ/warandia/index.htm)

Dexia declined to comment on Saturday on the apparent speed at which they were being used up.

The guarantees from France, Belgium and Luxembourg for up to 150 billion euros of borrowing were supposed to last until October.