Nationalised Dutch bank ABN AMRO is shedding 2,350 jobs - some nine per cent of its workforce - as the state readies it for a return to private hands.

The bank said it expected 1,500 redundancies and 850 positions to be lost through natural attrition in the next three to four years.

Most of the job cuts will be in back-office operations such as IT, but some retail and private banking positions will also be axed. The bank said it has taken a restructuring provision of 200 million euros ($290m) pre-tax for the redundancies.

The Dutch state, which nationalised ABN AMRO during the 2008 financial crisis, plans to sell it in 2014 or later, preferably by listing it on the stock market, so improving efficiency would make the bank more attractive to potential buyers.

Historically, ABN AMRO has had a relatively high cost-to-income ratio compared with other banks.

The bank said its underlying cost-income ratio fell to 63 per cent at the end of June, from 75pc a year ago, and that the job cuts would bring it below 60pc.