The body that manages the government’s stakes in state-supported banks has “to walk a tightrope” when approving bonuses for top staff at Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds , its chief executive told a parliamentary committee.

“The public are understandably angry and bewildered about the payment of bonuses” by banks that received £74bn in government bail-outs, said John Kingman, the departing chief executive of UK Financial Investments.