Britain's government has made more than £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion, 2.8 billion euros) from selling a small chunk of state-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland, it announced on Tuesday. Britain on Monday resumed privatisation of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which at the height of the global financial crisis a decade ago underwent the world's biggest bailout by taxpayers.
The Conservative government headed by Prime Minister Theresa May has sold a 7.7-percent stake in RBS, leaving it still with a majority holding of 62.4 percent, much of which it plans to offload through to 2023.
"Over £2.5 billion worth of government-owned RBS shares were sold last night as part of the government's policy to return the bank to private ownership," the Treasury said in a statement. A total of 925 million shares were each sold for £2.71, below Monday's closing price of just over £2.80 - and at a substantial loss compared with RBS' value at the time of the rescue.
The government noted however that the sale would help to reduce the country's mountain of debt. "This sale represents a significant step in returning RBS to full private ownership and putting the financial crisis behind us," finance minister Philip Hammond said in the statement.
"The government should not be in the business of owning banks. "The proceeds of this sale will go towards reducing our national debt - this is the right thing to do for taxpayers as we build an economy that is fit for the future," added Chancellor of the Exchequer Hammond.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.