Regulated private assets
Glossary of Capital Budgeting and Infrastructure Governance, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2018, suggests that Regulated Private Assets or Regulated Asset Base (RAB): ‘…comprises the net book value of the assets under economic regulation. The key principle of the RAB is that the assets are subject to financial capital maintenance (financial value is maintained) as opposed to physical capital maintenance (the productive capacity of the assets is maintained). Through this the investors are shielded from hidden expropriation. In effect, the private investor’s returns in a RAB are subject only to meeting efficiency targets that he has agreed with the economic regulator. The financial return for the owner of the asset return is almost guaranteed. RAB models attract large amounts of private capital into infrastructure (utilities in particular) through a transparent and consistent mechanism that reduces investor risk and places a cap on consumer prices. For the investors themselves, this mechanism represents an important method for preserving the capital invested in the regulated assets.’
See also: Regulated asset base.
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