Between 2008 and 2009, at the height of financial crisis, the government purchased 43% shares in the bailed-out bank by investing over £20bn.Since then, almost half of this is said to have been sold by the government to large investors.
Prior to April 2016, Osborne proposed to sell £9bn of the government’s stake and said some of this would be sold to the public at a discount.
Reuters quoted Osborne writing in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper: "Not only are we getting taxpayers their money back, we are going to do it in a way that gives many more people a stake in our economy and encourages a culture of long-term share ownership."
Further he said that the latest sale proposal will help the government recover from the financial crisis and pay down the national debt.
Following Osborne’s latest announcement, Sky News reported Liberal Democrats Business Secretary Vince Cable cautioning that the disposal could be challenged by the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) inquiry into the banking industry.
CMA will take a call on the measures that need to be taken by the election time after conducting an investigation into small business banking services.
According to the Conservatives, investors may purchase Lloyds shares between £250 and £10,000, which would be sold at a 5% discount to market value.
As reported by BBC, the latest sale would be part of the £9bn sale of shares in Lloyds that was announced in March budget.
In March, the British Government further reduced its stake in Lloyds for the second time by selling company shares worth £500m, reducing its share from around 40% in 2009 to below 23%.
Image: Lloyds Banking Group head office in the UK. Photo: courtesy of Lloyds Bank plc
