Full RBS recovery will inevitably take a long time

10.17.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 7th Aug 2009

RBS today reported a pre-tax profit of £15m for the first six months of the year.

Commenting on the news Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said:

"It appears that RBS is now showing some signs of improvement, though following the appalling investment decisions the bank has made in the past, a full recovery will inevitably take a long time.

"What is more critical for the recovery of the economy as a whole is that RBS lends to viable businesses.

"Although RBS's results have benefited from its investment division, there is still a very strong case for a separation between high street banking and investment banking.

"It is highly questionable whether it is in the interest of the taxpayer to have British banks with a lot of their business tied up in global casino operations - we cannot have taxpayers footing the bill when things go wrong."

ENDS