This follows the most recent sale of the taxpayer holding in Lloyds Banking Group, reducing the Treasury shareholding to less than 8%. During the peak of the financial crisis, around 40% of Lloyds was owned by the taxpayer.
Last month the Treasury scrapped a plan to sell Lloyds shares to the public, due to ongoing market volatility. At the time chancellor Philip Hammond said it was “not the right time for a retail offer,” and that restricting the sale offer to institutional investors was the best way to ensure the government recouped as much taxpayer money as possible.
The remaining shares in Lloyds are being sold through a trading plan, which involves gradually selling shares in the market over time. An initial trading plan ran from December 2014 to June this year, but has now been expanded.
Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “Selling our shares in Lloyds Banking Group and making sure we get back all the cash taxpayers injected into it during the financial crisis is one of my top priorities as chancellor. So I am pleased that we have continued to reduce our stake in Lloyds, and have now recovered over £17bn for the taxpayer.”
According to a government statement, proceeds from the sale would be used to reduce the national debt.
