Government cuts Lloyds stake to under 1%

The government has cut its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to under 1%.

UK Financial Investment Limited, which manages the stake, now holds a 0.89% interest in the bank, meaning it’s on track to become private in a matter of weeks.

In May last year, the government said it planned a retail sale of its 9.2% shareholding, fully returning the shares to the private sector between 2016 and 2017.

But in October, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced the government would only make shares available to institutions rather than retail investors.

He said at the time that returning Lloyds to the private sector and recovering all of the cash the taxpayer injected into the bank during the 2008 crisis was a priority for the government.