RBS to repay state loans next week

State-rescued Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is set to announce that it has repaid all of the £163 billion ($263.7 billion) emergency funding it received from Britain and the US, the BBC reported Thursday. The bank, which is still 82 percent controlled by the British government, will reveal on Friday when it releases its first quarter results that the final payment on the loans will be made as soon as next week, the BBC report said. At the height of the financial crisis, the British taxpayer stumped up £75 billion as part of a credit guarantee scheme and £36.6 billion to provide emergency liquidity assistance while the US Federal Reserve loaned £52.4 billion. The bank paid over £1 billion in fees for the credit guarantee scheme, giving the British government a profit on the venture. However, RBS shares are currently trading at about half the 50 pence a share that the government paid. Amid public anger over a raft of poor results, chief executive Stephen Hester waived his annual bonus of shares worth £963,000 on top of his £1.2 million salary.