UK Gov't to Sell $4.5-Bln Share in Lloyds Banking Group Soon

The UK government plans to sell its share in Lloyds Banking Group worth some 3.6 billion pounds ($4.46 billion at the current exchange rates) in the near future, according to official statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The UK government will start the sale of its share in Lloyds Banking Group worth some 3.6 billion pounds ($4.46 billion at the current exchange rates) in the near future, the UK governmental press service said in a statement on Friday.

"Next phase in the government’s plan to sell the British taxpayers’ remaining £3.6 billion stake in Lloyds Banking Group will begin shortly," Her Majesty's Treasury statement said.

The move will be part of country's trading plan to return the taxpayers' money transferred by the government to the bank to prevent it from collapse during the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009, the statement added.

Within the framework of government efforts to return the state-controlled bank to the private sector, the government has already raised some 16.9 billion from a total sum of 20.3 billion pounds, the Exchequer concluded.