Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed that about 16,000 staff had left the bank, including 10,000 in Britain, during the year. These included 3,700 job losses announced this week.

Mr Hester said that RBS was now more than halfway through the number of job cuts it needed under its rescue programme.

He pointed out that, given the geographic spread of the bank’s workforce and businesses, the overseas job losses had been disproportionately higher than those in the UK.

Mr Hester declined to reveal details of any new UK job losses that might be imminent, but he said: “By far the biggest announcements that we have had to make, we have made.”

He paid tribute to the way in which RBS employees had maintained their morale: “The uncertainty associated with the bank, the public and media pressure and excoriation and the feelings of being discriminated against ... are all really wearing factors. I think it is fantastic that our staff have dealt with those pressures.

“So far, our losses of people have been damaging — but not destructive — and our people deserve enormous credit for the way they have responded to those pressures. If the pressures get worse, our job gets harder and the taxpayer’s risk gets greater — but we are working hard to manage the situation as well as we can. As part of RBS’s recovery, it should be a place where good people want to work and do a tough job.”

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