Fresh £8bn loss on state-owned banks revealed

            The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revealed the government is set to incur a further £8 billion loss on its stake in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, according to the Telegraph.

The banks are currently worth £30.6 billion than was paid by the government, but new OBR figures showing the cost to the government of raising funds to complete the bank rescues show that the taxpayer has incurred a further £7.8 billion loss.

'The additional costs of financing the funds raised to support the interventions... have amounted to £12.8 billion to date,' the OBR said. Those costs dwarf the £5 billion the government expects to gain from RBS's Asset Protection Scheme, and suggest the banks will need to be sold at a £7.8 billion profit in order to recoup the taxpayer's investment.

That loss comes on top of the £400 million loss the government incurred in selling Northern Rock to Virgin Money.