Taxpayer's Stake In Lloyds Now Below 20%

The Government's stake in Lloyds Banking Group has now fallen below 20% following the latest share sale.

A further £500m was raised in the disposal, which meant the Treasury has now recouped more than half of the £20bn in bailout funds which were committed to rescue the bank at the height of the financial crisis.

The sale took the total stake to 19.93% - down 1% on the last transaction.

The Government has reduced its stake by 5% in the past three months, raising about £2.5bn as part of a trading plan launched in December by the chancellor, George Osborne.

He wants a further £9bn of Lloyds shares to be sold over the next 12 months so long as they continue to make a profit.

No shares have been sold below the price the Government paid for them, which was 73.6p.

Lloyds closed at just above 86p last night.

A spokesman for Lloyds Banking Group said: "Today's announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back.

"This reflects the hard work undertaken over the last four years to transform the group into a simple, low-risk and customer-focused bank that is committed to helping Britain prosper."

Mr Osborne said: "These sales have only been made possible by our long-term economic plan, and we are determined to build on this success, and to continue to return Lloyds to the private sector and reduce our national debt."