UK should take time to get money back from RBS - Labour's Balls

LONDON (Reuters) - A British government run by the Labour Party would take its time in selling its ownership of state-controlled bank RBS in order to get taxpayers' money back, the man who would be finance minister if Labour wins May's elections said on Wednesday. RBS was rescued with a 45 billion pound bailout using state funds in 2008 as the financial crisis hammered Britain's banking sector, and the government retains an 80 percent stake in the lender. Shares in RBS are currently trading at 358 pence, well below the government's 502 pence a share buy-in price. Ed Balls, Labour's top finance official, told Reuters that the scale of RBS, and of the problems which beset it during the crisis, meant there was still no quick fix for the bank and suggested there should be no rush to sell it at a discount. "Hard as it is, we have to take the time which is necessary to get the best deal for the taxpayer," Balls said in an interview. "I would be disappointed, really disappointed if we didn't get it back." Britain's finance minister George Osborne said last week that the government would like to "get rid of" its stake in RBS "as quickly as possible". However, Osborne said in January he would "require a lot of persuading" to give up on the principle that shares in RBS should be sold for at least the price government paid for them. (Reporting by William Schomberg and Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Catherine Evans)