U.K. Outlines $634 Billion Infrastructure Investment Pipeline

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government published its infrastructure-investment pipeline, detailing a record 500 billion pounds ($634 billion) of projects scheduled to be undertaken in the coming years. 

Government investment is behind about 40 percent of the pipeline after Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced plans for a 23 billion-pound National Productivity Investment Fund last month, the Treasury said in an e-mailed statement on Monday. Projects include the Thames Tideway Tunnel, smart meters and upgrading the A14 highway in eastern England.

“It is clear proof that we are absolutely committed to ensure our infrastructure is fit for the future," Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Gauke said in the statement. That’s “at the heart of our ambitious plans to close the U.K.’s productivity gap and build a fair economy for everyone.”

Private finance makes up more than half of the pipeline to 2020-21, helping to deliver projects ranging from transport and broadband to flood defenses and housing, the Treasury said.

Improving productivity through targeted investment was the key aim set out by Hammond in his Autumn Statement on Nov. 23 as he sought to prepare the British economy for any shocks from Brexit. He announced an increase in borrowing to finance the cost.

To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O'Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Andrew Atkinson, Andrew Langley