Shares in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have started to rise after Chancellor George Osborne said the government would begin selling its \u00a332 billion stake in the bank.<\/p>\n
The sale plan represents a milestone in terms of RBS\u2019s recovery from the financial crisis but also means Mr Osborne has given up on his original intention to sell the shares for a profit.<\/p>\n
The chancellor said the time was right for British business and taxpayers to start selling off part of the stake in the Edinburgh-based bank, even though the shares are worth \u00a313bn less than the state paid for them during the financial crisis.<\/p>\n
The shares will be sold to major City institutions in the coming months. An offer for members of the public could follow<\/p>\n
Mr Osborne said: \u201cIt\u2019s the right thing to do for British businesses and British taxpayers. Yes, we may get a lower price than that was paid for it – but we will get the best price possible. For the longer we wait, the higher the price the whole economy will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also set out more details of the sell-off of the government\u2019s remaining stake in Royal Mail.<\/p>\n
Royal Mail employees will share a further one per cent tranche in the firm, while 15 per cent will be placed with institutional investors.<\/p>\n
A review from Rothschild investment bank said that, despite the price gap for RBS, taxpayers can expect to make \u00a314bn more than it paid out in bank bailouts if the sale of bank assets and fees already received are taken into account.<\/p>\n
RBS has already paid back about \u00a35bn in fees and repayments for insurance systems set up by the government as part of the bailout.<\/p>\n
The sell-off plan was criticised by Unite, though, which questioned the timing given the current share price of RBS.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy selling off the public stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland, George Osborne is short-changing the public and wasting a historic chance to bring needed change to Britain\u2019s banks,\u201d the union said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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