Treasury’s Lloyds stake down to 17%

The Treasury today cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to below 17%, meaning taxpayers have recouped £11.5 billion from the lender’s bailout during the financial crisis.

Gordon Brown’s Labour government pumped £20.5 billion into Lloyds following its ill-fated merger with HBOS in 2009.

The government originally owned a 41% stake in the bank, but has been selling this down since 2013 and plans to make shares available to the public.

“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,” Lloyds said.

It added: “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.”