City won't dig deep for chunnel
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• Attempts by Eurotunnel to raise £206 million in the first round of financing for the Channel Tunnel are being met with indifference by Britain's financial institutions, in sharp contrast to their counterparts in France and Japan.
At the time of going to press, Eurotunnel has been successful in raising £70 million in France and £60 million in Japan and North America, but in Britain the consortium is 210 million short of the £70 million needed.
Eurotunnel's difficulties in Britain have caused embarrassment to the Government, which wants the project to be privately financed.
Deadline
The official deadline for raising the finance is this Wednesday, and Eurotunnel still insists that it is confident of raising the money in time.
Whether or not Eurotunnel raises the money by Wednesday, the credibility of the project is likely to suffer. A further £750 million is due to be raised for the project next summer.
Those financial institutions which have decided to back the project include the Prudential, Legal and General, Norwich Union, National Provident and the ICI Pension Fund. Surprisingly both the British Railways Pension Fund and the British Steel Pension Fund have decided not to back the project even though their members will benefit from it.