Government divests 630m RBS shares, Osborne hails 'important step'

4th Aug 2015 08:16

(ShareCast News) - The UK government has sold 630m Royal Bank of Scotland shares for £2.08bn, HM Treasury confirmed on Tuesday.Giving details of the divestment, officials said the shares were sold to institutional investors at a 2.5% discount to Monday's closing price of 337.6p.In a statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne hailed it as an "important first step towards returning the bank to private ownership.""This is the right thing to do for the taxpayer and for British businesses: it will promote financial stability, lead to a more competitive banking sector, and support the interests of the wider economy. Now is the time for RBS to rebuild itself as a commercial bank, no longer reliant on the state, but serving the working people of Britain."Osborne added he was for doing the right thing for the British economy."While the easiest thing to do would be to duck the difficult decisions and leave RBS in state hands; the right thing to do for the economy and for taxpayers is to start selling off our stake. So today that's what we're doing."The sale amounts to a stake of just under 5.4% in RBS.