The kingdom is also an important player in BAE's immediate post-EADS future because shareholders are hoping to receive the proceeds – an estimated £600m – from the renegotiation of a Saudi contract for 72 Typhoons.
The budget underlined this plan, which means the amount of gross government debt outstanding will grow with the size of the economy, year in, year out, even when the government returns to surplus and the proceeds from asset sales flow to the government and bolster the headline cash budget balance.
Under his leadership, GMG built up long-term reserves exceeding £850 million, including proceeds from other non-core disposals and the benefits of an ongoing efficiency programme.
The government expects around 15,000 of these high value council properties will become vacant annually, and proceeds from these sales will release £4.5bn a year – cash that will not only build new affordable property, but also fund the proposed discounts to tenants, creating a £1bn brownfield regeneration fund that will produce 400,000 new houses over five years.
They even may be a bit silly, but proceeds go to help underserved public schools.
Labor wants to amend the government proposal to insist that a cost/benefit analysis be carried out before any infrastructure project proceeds; and to give the parliament an effective right of veto over privatisations.
That's why Alistair Darling, then chancellor, put him in to sort out stricken Northern Rock in early 2008 before he moved across to RBS in November, about the time Cameron and Osborne spotted there might not be "proceeds of growth" to share between tax cuts and extra spending for a while.
This weekend the Briton faces the prospect of financial ruin following the shattering news that the proceeds from her house sale – €181,000 (£155,000) – will remain frozen in the Bank of Cyprus as a result of capital controls enforced to contain the crisis.
The donors, whom Hodge described as "Jimmy Carr types", sold the gilts and donated the proceeds – which were roughly the same as the purchase price – to the charity.
The flipside of a loyalty bonus, though, is lower proceeds for the Treasury.
Warren proceeds to calmly recite numbers that could inspire even librarians to storm a few barricades.
