"For the Treasury, the elephant in the room is of course RBS, which required twice as much financial support from the taxpayer as Lloyds."
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, confirmed that the government has received £20.4 billion since it began selling its stake in Lloyds in 2013, which includes both sales and dividends.
Market conditions withstanding, the government also expects to exit its remaining shareholding of less than 2% in the coming months.
Philip Hammond said: "Recovering all of the money taxpayers injected into Lloyds marks a significant milestone in our plan to build an economy that works for everyone.
"While it was right to step in with support during the financial crisis, the government should not be in the business of owning banks in the long term. The right place for them is in the private sector and I’m pleased to be able to say we are approaching the point at which we will sell our final shares in Lloyds Bank."
Laith Khalaf, Senior Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, commented: "The taxpayer has finally recouped all the money ploughed into Lloyds during the final crisis, though it’s taken almost a decade, much longer than expected. The remaining stake can now be sold off as pure profit for the government, and when Lloyds finally returns in its entirety to private hands, it will become a normal bank once again.
"Of the UK banks, Lloyds has cleaned up its act fastest since the financial crisis. The share price was badly hit by Brexit, but Lloyds has recovered much of its poise since, thanks to some decent numbers from the bank itself and from the wider economy.
"For the Treasury, the elephant in the room is of course RBS, which required twice as much financial support from the taxpayer as Lloyds. The RBS share price needs to double from its current level before the taxpayer breaks even on the bailout, and that isn’t happening anytime soon.
"As a result the government seems to be coming round to the realisation that it might have to sell shares at a loss, which will be an embarrassment to say the least."
