Barclays bonuses announced on Budget day

Barclays sparked outrage Wednesday as it was accused of trying to 'bury bad news' by revealing bonuses paid to executives on the same day as the UK Budget 2013.

The bank was due to announce details of multimillion-pound bonuses to top bosses including Chief Executive Antony Jenkins and the head of its investment bank Rich Ricci.

Chief Executive of corporate governance consultancy Manifest, Sarah Wilson, criticised Barclays for trying to conceal the bonus payments by releasing details while the City is distracted by the Budget.

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"They know everyone is going to be very busy, so releasing the information today is an interesting tactic," she was quoted by The Guardian as saying.

"There's no two ways of looking at it - they would have known the Budget is today."

It comes after the company posted a drop in annual pre-tax profits last month, following a string of scandals over LIBOR rigging and mis-seeling of payment protection insurance.

Barclays declined to comment.