London/Washington  – The British government may raise its stake in the international insurance giant Lloyds Banking Group PLC to 75 per cent in return for insuring 250 billion pounds (353 billion dollars) of its assets, the Wall Street Journal reported online Friday.

The government has already acquired 43 per cent of Lloyds in efforts to stabilize the credit market amidst the global recession.

BBC and Sky News reported the insurance amount could reach 260 billion pounds.

There was no official confirmation of the reports, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter. Lloyds is expected to make a statement on Saturday.

Last week, Lloyds Banking Group reported steep 2008 losses of 9.9 billion pounds which resulted from its government-backed rescue merger with lender Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) at the peak of the banking crisis last September.

The combined group is now Britain’s biggest bank, with 145,000 employees, 38 million clients and deposits of more than 300 billion pounds. (dpa)