Royal Bank of Scotland should not be "leading the way" when it comes to bankers' bonuses, the Prime Minister has said.
But David Cameron warned against "banker-bashing", saying that it was too easy to make banks the "scapegoats" for the recession.
Mr Cameron's comments came after it was reported RBS chief executive Stephen Hester will take home an estimated £6.8 million in bonuses, salary and other payments this year.
Mr Cameron said the details of Hester's pay packet was "pure speculation" but warned RBS should not be paying out massive bonuses.
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "On the general, I want to see the bonus pool smaller than last year, on the specific, Royal Bank of Scotland, as you rightly say, is owned by the Government.
"They should not be leading the way on bonuses, they should be a back-marker."