Bank bonuses to fall to £7 billion - CEBR

City workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush-hour in the City of London August 11, 2010.

LONDON (Reuters) - The City financial sector was expected to get 7 billion pounds of bonuses for 2010, down 4 percent from last year, the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) said on Tuesday.

The CEBR consultancy said the drop reflected fewer people working in the City in the aftermath of the credit crisis.

The new 50 percent top rate of income tax meant the Treasury would get around 4.1 billion pounds from those bonuses after factoring in national insurance contributions, the CEBR said.

"A whopping 7 billion pound bonus payout will be easier to stomach if the lion's share goes to the nation," CEBR economist Benjamin Williamson said.

Earlier this week, Chancellor George Osborne said he would not allow banks to pay huge bonuses if they did not do enough to make loans available for small businesses.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Dan Lalor)