Britain's finance minister Jeremy Hunt said he would explore options for a NatWest retail share offer in the next 12 months, opening up the possibility of the government reducing its stake in the bank by selling shares directly to the public.
"I will explore options for a NatWest retail share offer in the next 12 months subject to supportive market conditions and achieving value for money," Hunt said today.
The retail share sale plan forms part of a wider push to reinvigorate interest in UK stocks, the minister said, adding it "was time to get Sid investing again".
"Tell Sid" adverts encouraged millions of ordinary Britons to buy into the privatisations of state-owned companies when shares were sold in the 1980s.
NatWest shares dipped slightly on Hunt's comments and were last down 0.8%, compared with a broadly flat FTSE index.
The UK government has been steadily reducing its stake in NatWest since bailing out the lender during the 2008-9 global financial crisis.
The bank was returned to majority private control last year after a string of stock sales, mainly to institutional investors.
