The French government has banned Autoroutes du Sud de la France (ASF), the partly-privatised toll-road operator, from issuing new shares on the market after deciding against a wholesale privatisation of the country's motorway system.

Gilles de Robien, transport minister, said on Thursday he expected the three state-owned road operators to generate between €35bn ($43bn) and €39bn in dividends over the next three decades, most of which would be allocated to the building of other infrastructures, such as railways and the €16bn tunnel through the Alps between Lyons and Turin, in Italy.