Is Lloyds bank set to become a political football?
Even though it depends which way you look at the cost of the government's stake in Lloyds bank, as to whether the government is in profit or not, there is growing speculation that the UK authorities are looking to at least reduce the stake in the operation. Yesterday, after the budget, there was much comment regarding the share price of Lloyds bank and whether the authorities would sell at least some shares ahead of the election.
The problem is that even though the government is confident that the economy will bounce back, and the banking sector will boom again in due course, is it right to sell shares in Lloyds bank in what could be seen as a political manoeuvre?
This is a very difficult situation for the UK authorities because they would like nothing better than to declare a profit for UK taxpayers although this would open the authorities up to cries of political manoeuvring. However, what if the UK economy does take a further downturn and Lloyds bank shares head south leaving UK taxpayers sitting on a loss for the future?
If you believe what the market is telling us, with rumours and counter rumours swirling around dealing desks, it does look as though the UK government is looking to at least reduce the taxpayer stake in the business, but when should the authorities sell?
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