George Osborne's flashy giveaway of Lloyds shares

Treasury's plans to offload shares in Lloyds Banking Group has seen state's stake fall - but Osborne's speedier scheme will see the government lose out

Congratulations to the Treasury and its sidekicks at UK Financial Investments: the little-and-often "trading plan" they devised last year for offloading Lloyds Banking Group shares is working splendidly.

The drip-feed of stock has not interrupted the smooth upwards progress of the Lloyds share price. After the latest sale, the state's stake has been cut from 24.9% to 19.9% in three months with minimum fuss. At the current pace, the state could be out of Lloyds altogether by this time next year.