A crowded road to market

Governments are under pressure to speed up privatization. In western Europe the need to reduce public debt to levels that will qualify countries to join the EU's single currency has brought a new urgency to stalled programmes. In emerging economies the IMF is pressing governments to rid themselves of state dinosaurs. Market prospects are not propitious, adding to the urgency - governments are aware that the bull run in equities may be drawing to a close. There are also signs that strong investment inflows from the US are drying up, with reports that US investors are redeeming holdings in mutual funds.

Under these circumstances governments must get assets to market soon or find they have to sell them off more cheaply than expected. In western Europe (including Turkey) this means, according to a recent report by JP Morgan, that governments are expected to set a privatization record this year, raising an...