The government has sold a further £500m of Lloyds Banking Group shares through the trading plan that was launched last year.
This takes the total amount of money recovered for the taxpayer from the bank to just less than £8bn, the government said.
The latest sales mean the government’s stake in the bank has reduced from around 40 per cent to 24 per cent.
All shares sold through the trading plan have been sold at more than the average price the previous government paid for them, which was 73.6 pence.
A trading plan involves gradually selling shares in the market over time, in an “orderly and measured way”.
The trading plan, which was launched on 17 December 2014, will continue for about four months, ending no later than 30 June.
At the time of writing, Lloyds Banking Group’s shares are 0.98 per cent up on Friday’s close at 78.75p, however this is down by 2.85 per cent over the year.
Chancellor George Osborne said: “I am delighted to announce today that the trading plan I launched in December has raised a further £500m for the taxpayer so far.
“This is further progress in returning Lloyds Banking Group to private ownership, reducing our national debt and getting taxpayers’ money back.
“The trading plan and its success are only made possible by our long term economic plan which is delivering a more secure and resilient economy.”
donia.o’loughlin@ft.com
