"However those savings are less than the total forecast foregone profits of the SOEs - which include both dividends and retained earnings.
"That is because State-owned enterprises are expected to earn a commercial rate of return that reflects the risk of owning such companies."
According the Budget Policy Statement itself, the Government will book $1.5 billion a year for four years beginning in 2013 from the asset sale program which begins later this year with the sale of share in Mighty River Power.
In the first year of the program the forecast foregone dividends are $50 million against estimated finance cost savings of $54 million.
By 2016 the forecast foregone dividends are $200 million against finance cost savings of $266 million.
However by then the forecast foregone profits to minority shareholders which include non cash gains are $360 million.
Mr English said the cumulative reduction in net debt resulting from the asset sale program by 2016 was just over $6 billion.
In as speech given at Victoria University last night, Mr English said estimates of foregone profits and dividends were based on four averages of the companies' own forecasts. This morning he acknowledged that the forecasts around the mixed ownership model were not "refined judgements" but remained rough estimates.
Mr English also said the Government's estimate of raising $6 billion from the asset sale program represented sale prices that were in excess of the companies' book values.
This morning he said the fiscal impact of the program "will be roughly neutral and we will have significantly less debt".