At its peak the government says that Northern Rock owed the taxpayer £26 billion and that the original repayment schedule set at the time of the bailout has been exceeded.
However the government now accepts that in the current economic climate it is not a sensible policy for Northern Rock to send its customers out into an ever contracting mortgage market, and that it will now reverse this policy.
At this time however the governmrnt is unable to says how much new mortgage lending Northern Rock will be able to put into the market as EU clearance of state aid is needed first, and an announcement will therefore be made at a later date.
