Govt shelves sale of Lloyds shares to public.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has shelved George Osborne's plans to sell the remainder of government-owned Lloyds shares to the public, saying what matters is that the public does not make a loss on the investment.

Speaking on the fringes of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington, Philip Hammond said that the remaining 9.1% of Lloyds shares would be sold through a "trading plan to offload them into the market rather than a retail offer".

The Chancellor also signalled that plans to sell the government's remaining stake in RBS would be put on hold for the foreseeable future.

Mr Hammond said: "On the basis of the latest advice from UKFI I believe the best way to secure value for money for the taxpayer and secure all the money invested in Lloyds is through a trading plan to offload the shares into the market rather than a retail offer.

"Ongoing market volatility means this is not the right time to make a retail offer of the type previously proposed."

Asked about the government's shareholding in RBS, Mr Hammond said: "Looking at the market, looking at the current share price, looking at problems around the Williams-Glynn disposal and outstanding case with the US Department of Justice, it is clear that the disposal of RBS shares at a price that recovers the taxpayer's investment is not practical at the moment.

"The sensible investment strategy would be to hold those shares until those issues are resolved."


Sky News.
Culled from Yahoo News.