Government 8216 in no rush 8217 to sell Lloyds shares
The government will not rush a sell-off of Lloyds shares.
The government has confirmed it will not be rushed into selling off shares in Lloyds Banking Group after the bank returned to profit this week.
Figures for the first half of the year showed Lloyds made £2.1 billion in the first half of the year, compared with a loss of £456 million for the same period in 2012.
But deputy prime minister Nick Clegg stated that the government is not going to be pushed into selling shares in the bank, which is 39 per cent owned by the taxpayer.
"We want to make sure that taxpayers interests are properly safeguarded and the taxpayer is not short-changed in any way," he said.
These comments echo those made recently by chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne and chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander.
Shares in Lloyds are up this morning (August 2nd) after the bank's strong performance in the first six months of the year.
At 08:37 BST, stocks were trading 0.69 per cent higher than at the start of the day.
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