The Government will have to sell its stakes in the part-nationalised banks for an £8bn profit if it is to recover the full cost of the financial sector bail-out, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revealed.

Protecting the taxpayer from a loss appears a dim prospect, though, as the state's holdings in Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group are currently worth £30.6bn less than was paid, the OBR added. In total, the taxpayer is currently £38.4bn out of pocket on the rescue. The OBR provided revealing new figures that give a fuller picture of the cost of the bank rescues. To inject £66bn into RBS and Lloyds, and £1.4bn into Northern Rock, the Government had to raise funds in the market. In addition, it secured a further £57bn to provide loans to the stricken sector – predominantly Northern Rock.

For the first time, the Treasury has revealed to the OBR that "the additional costs of financing the funds raised to support the...Read more here---> New £8bn loss from state-backed banks revealed by OBR - Telegraph