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LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The British government has cut its stake in NatWest NWG.L to below 10%, it said on Friday, bringing the lender one step closer to full private ownership 16 years after it was nationalised during the global financial crisis.

It has increased its sales of NatWest shares this year, cutting its stake below 30% in March and below 20% in July. Finance minister Rachel Reeves has reaffirmed a plan to exit fully by 2026.

NatWest was once 84% owned by the British taxpayer after the state came to its rescue in 2008.

The government on Friday said it had cut its stake to 9.99% from a previous 10.99%, still leaving it as the bank's biggest shareholder, according to LSEG data.

Shares in NatWest were last down 0.7%.

European governments have sold down their crisis-era stakes in banks as they look to capitalise on rising share prices.

NatWest shares have surged about 85% in 2024 to their highest since 2011, but they still remain a fraction of their pre-crisis levels.

"We are pleased with the sustained momentum in reducing HM Treasury’s stake in NatWest Group. Returning the bank to full private ownership is a shared ambition and one that is in the interest of all our stakeholders," a NatWest spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

NatWest also announced Gill Whitehead, an executive who has spent much of her career in the media and technology sectors, had joined its board.

(Reporting by Lucy Raitano and Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Dhara Ranasinghe)

((Lucy.Raitano@thomsonreuters.com;))