UK taxpayers will make a loss of £22 billion from George Osborne’s plans to sell the Government’s 73 per cent in Royal Bank of Scotland.

Office for Budget Responsibility analysis released after the Budget announcement on Wednesday showed that the taxpayer is set to lose half of the £45.5 billion used to bail out the bank in 2008 because of Osborne’s insistence that it must be returned to private ownership in the near future.

The £22 billion loss is more than four times the cost of cuts to disability benefits that are intended to raise £4.4 billion for the Treasury by 2020.

Critics have said Osborne’s decision to privatise the bank at a loss is “reckless and short-termist”.

“The sale of RBS has nothing to do with protecting taxpayers’ interests,” said Christine Berry, a senior researcher at the New Economics Foundation.

Ms Berry said that the sale has been motivated by the Chancellor’s reliance on the sale of public assets to plug holes in the budget coupled with an “ideological obsession” with private ownership.

“Our stake in RBS gives us a unique opportunity to transform one of the UK’s biggest banks so that it genuinely serves the public interest – for example, by breaking it up into a network of local ‘people’s banks,” she said.

Osborne will recoup £21.5 billion from sales of RBS shares between 2016-17 and 2019-20, 26 per cent less than expected, and nothing at all from selling off the bank between 2020-21.

He made £2.1 billion in August in a share sale that was judged by many to be so ill-timed that it should be subject to an inquiry.

The OBR said that the £22 billion shortfall was “more than explained” by the sharp fall in the share price of RBS.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

“Proceeds from Lloyds share sales have been pushed back and those from RBS share sales have been revised down significantly due to a lower share price,” the report said.

The value of RBS shares owned by the Government has been revised down from £34 billion in November to £25 billion by February because of a fall in stock market prices.