Speaking at the British Bankers' Association annual conference, he said: “Last week, the IMF revised UK growth up by more than any other G7 economy.
“And last month, the first sale of Lloyds' shares - at above the price the previous government paid - represented a very important milestone.
“And I can tell you that in future sales we will look for ways in which the British public can get involved. Because we are mending the economy and the tax payer is at last getting their money back.”
He admitted that it has been a long, hard road.and - for the avoidance of doubt - there's a long way to go, but he believes the recovery is on track.
He said: “We... had to ensure that we wouldn't see a repeat of the situation we faced five years ago.
“And that involved:
- taking tough decisions to restore the credibility of this country's finances
- reforming a tax and regulatory system that was holding back our businesses
- investing in infrastructure and skills as part of our long term growth plan
“That's why we introduced The Financial Services Act, which placed responsibility for financial stability with the Bank of England.
“That Act - as you know - created a new prudential regulator - the Prudential Regulation Authority, led by Andrew Bailey - as well as the Financial Policy Committee, which has been charged with identifying, monitoring and taking action to remove or reduce systemic risks in our financial system...
“It is crucial to our future growth that the banking sector helps to invest in British business. That's why this April we chose to extend the Funding for Lending Scheme by a further year.
“And this morning I'd like to publically thank the seven major lenders that agreed this July, to publish their business lending data, across 10 000 individual postcodes... This means that - from next year - businesses will be able to see exactly where the major banks are lending. And - more importantly - where they aren't.”
