Rbs: Government Sells £2.1Bn Of Shares In Bank

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33769906

The Fat Cats in the city must already be rubbing their hands in glee and ordering their new Porsches on the strength of this marvelous money-making news !

But us taxpayers are selling these shares at a huge loss.

[bazwillrun]

"Both sell-offs will eradicate some of the Government’s debt pile, helping Osborne claim responsibility for fiscal prudence."

isnt that the name of the game, reducing debt ?......if that reduces debt who should be claiming responsibility for the fiscal prudence ?

when should this share be sold and who should claim credit for the sale ?

[youngmafbog]

Mickey obviously wants the taxpayer to foot this:

RBS reported a half-year loss of £153m last week after setting aside more money for repaying customers and potential legal settlements.

[fiction-factory]

I don't think I'm being fooled, Bazile, as I know all that.
It may be some time before we know whether they sold at the wrong time- but if it turns out to be the wrong time (because prices shoot up) maybe we could be relieved that it was only 5% of the shares and not the whole lot. If the price drops, on the other hand, will those criticising Osborn for selling some today change their tune and with the benefit of hindsight start saying he should have sold the whole lot on 4th August?

[sevenOP]

The word 'debt' is being bandied around: UK debt is ~ £ 1.4 TRILLION, the UK deficit is ~£87 BILLION, which pile may be paid down ?

Ellipsis( or anyone), can you explain why " selling a tranche of shares back into the private sector should improve the business..." ?