Government stake in Lloyds Banking Group now less than 1 per cent
THE taxpayer's stake in Lloyds Banking Group has been cut to below 1 per cent as the Government edges closer to fully privatising the lender.
Taxpayer's stake in Lloyds Banking Group has been cut to below 1 per cent
UK Financial Investments, which manages the stake in Lloyds, cut its holding by around 1 per cent to 0.89 per cent.
Last week, Chancellor Philip Hammond said the Government has recouped the £20.3 billion used to bail out Lloyds during the financial crisis.
At its peak, Lloyds was 43 per cent owned by the state.
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More than £20.4 billion has now been returned to Government coffers since the lender's bailout.
This includes around £500 million in payouts to shareholders since the bank resumed paying dividends in 2014 as it has returned to profit growth in recent years.
The Government is edging closer to fully privatising the lender
The taxpayer's final stake in Lloyds is expected to be sold off in the coming weeks, with any profits being used to pay down the deficit.
The announcement comes a week after the Chancellor admitted that the Government is prepared to sell its 72 per cent stake in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) at a loss to the public purse.