Lloyds shares sale set to go ahead

Harriett Baldwin, economic secretary to the Treasury, confirmed the plans in a statement made as taxpayer-backed Lloyds made another £130m dividend payment to the Government, taking the total to £318m.

The latest dividend payment takes the total the government has recovered from Lloyds for taxpayers to over £16.8 billion.

Since the financial crisis the government has recovered over £75 billion of financial assets for the taxpayer.

“The £130 million we’ve received marks another milestone in government’s plan to recover the money taxpayers were forced to put into Lloyds during the financial crisis,” said the econmic secretary to the Treasury.

“The government has already recovered over 80 per cent of its original investment in Lloyds and the dividend payment takes the amount we’ve recovered from the bank to over £16.8 billion.

“I am determined to build on this success by making Lloyds shares available to the public this year, so that we can build a share-owning democracy and continue to reduce our national debt.”