Osborne plans "quick" sale of RBS stake

UK chancellor George Osborne said he wants to sell off the government's stake in Royal Bank of Scotland “as quickly as we can” after the general election.

If the Conservatives retain power, Osborne said he aimed to complete the sale of the 79% holding built up from the £45bn staged state bailout in 2008 and 2009.

Osborne, in an interview with the Financial Times, said the sale of the stake could take years to complete and would need to be made at an average of 455p for the state to recoup its outlay.

The shares closing at around 378p on Thursday, having traded well below 400p for almost all of the last three and a half years.

The chancellor said the process would be tricky due to the "massive" size of the stake and the constraints of pleasing the taxpayer.

"First, it's not an exact science but on some measures it's bigger than all the privastisations of the 1980s put together.

"Second, I think people want to get their money back. The British taxpayer wants to feel they haven't suffered some enormous loss.

"So there are constraints around it but it's certainly something I would want to get moving on in the summer after the election."