British government stake in Lloyds Banking Group falls below 21 pct

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters) - The size of the stake owned by British taxpayers in Lloyds Banking Group has fallen by a further 1 percent to below 21 percent, the government agency in charge of managing the interest said on Friday.

UK Financial Investments said the public shareholding of HM Treasury in the British bank has been reduced to 20.95 percent, in another milestone towards restoring the bank to full private ownership.

News of the reduction comes less than two weeks before the British General Election and shortly after Lloyds, rescued at a cost of 20 billion pounds during the financial crisis, paid its first dividend in more than six years.

"Today's announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back," a Lloyds Banking (Xetra: 871784 - news) Group spokesperson said in a statement.

"This reflects the hard work undertaken over the last four years to transform the Group into a simple, low-risk and customer-focused bank that is committed to helping Britain prosper." (Reporting By Sinead Cruise, editing by Nishant Kumar)