The Dutch government reduced its stake in Dutch bank ABN Amro by selling 7 percent of its shares for nearly 1.5 billion euros (1.71 billion U.S. dollars), the bank announced on Wednesday.

The Dutch state still holds a stake of 63 percent, currently worth around 13.5 billion euros. It is the third time the Dutch state sells a part of its shares, so far generating over 6 billion euros.

ABN Amro shares have risen from 17.75 euros per share at the end of 2015 to over 23 euros per share by now, but it still seems unlikely that the government can recoup its full investment of 21.7 billion euros, Dutch broadcaster NOS reports.

In October 2008, the Dutch state nationalized ABN Amro in order to safeguard financial stability, to save the bank and to keep it in the Netherlands. The Dutch Ministry of Finance always emphasized the temporary nature of the investment, and announced the start of the ABN Amro Initial Public Offering (IPO) process in October 2015. (1 Euro = 1.71 U.S. dollars)