The government has sold-off another 1% of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group, taking its shareholding to less than 13%.
The latest sale takes the total raised for the taxpayer to £14.5bn – all proceeds are used to reduce the national debt.
The government’s trading plan, which launched on 17 December 2014 involves gradually selling shares in the market over time but it will end no later than 31 December 2015.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said: “It’s fantastic news that we’ve sold more shares in Lloyds Bank, taking the total recovered to £14.5bn. I am determined to build on this success, and to continue to return Lloyds to the private sector and reduce our national debt.”
According to Reuters, Osborne added: “My view is that we want the government out of the banking system in the UK.
“I hope that [Lloyds] will be complete within the year.”
Lloyds, which was bailed out by the taxpayer during the financial crisis, recently announced that in the six months to the end of June, statutory profit rose to £1.2bn pounds, up 38% from a year ago. However it was forced to set aside £1.4bn to cover the cost of miss-selling payment protection insurance (PPI), taking the total amount of redress to £13bn.
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