Why has George Osborne delayed Lloyds Bank share sale?

UK Chancellor George Osborne has postponed the sale of the government’s final stake in Lloyds Banking Group.

Osborne blamed global market turmoil for the decision and said “now is not the right time” to sell.

The sale was expected to raise over £2bn in what was to be one of the largest privatisations since the 1980s.

The reason for postponing the sale has been blamed on tough trading environment as Lloyds share price plummeted from 78p in October 2015 to 64p currently.  

For those of you who don’t know, the government raised a record £26.4bn in 2015 through privatising assets.

Take a look at the seven big public assets the government privatised in 2015 (figures complied by Press Association):

1. Northern Rock – mortgage assets worth £13bn sold

2. Lloyds – £9.1bn in shares sold

3. Royal Bank of Scotland – a 5.4% stake sold for £2.1bn

4. Royal Mail – the remaining 30% stake sold for £1.3bn

5. Eurostar – 40% stake sold for £757.1m

6. Greencoat UK Wind, a green investment fund – sold for £51.2m

7. Constructionline database – sold to Capita for £35m

 

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