The defender has left Newcastle for Juventus on-loan with an option to buy.
Howe said this morning ahead of their Carabao Cup semifinal second-leg against Arsenal: "Yeah, I don't think it was necessary my decision to let him leave. I think it's very reluctant from our side because he's a player that had just recently signed and we believed in him and his qualities. It was slightly frustrating for him that he hasn't played more. In part really due to the form of the other players around him.
"But I think we're in the world, and we have in this window, of trying to manage PSR. I'm trying to make decisions that benefit us in the long term, and this is one of those decisions. So Lloyd leaves with our best wishes.
"He's certainly shown exemplary attitude in this time here and I'm sure he'll do well in Italy, and it's an exciting new challenge for him."
The manager also stated: "I said right at the start, in the build up to the window, that it was not a case really of looking at incomings, it was a case of trying to manage outgoings really and trying to not weaken the squad to a point where the team's affected.
"But we also future plan and make sure that we control everything in terms of our PSR level, so I think we've done that. I think it's been successful in that regard.
"I think the two sales - the two players go with our best wishes, they're two great lads. The squad is lighter in numbers but high in quality so I think for us managing injuries, etc will be a big part of what we do now in this part of the season coming up.
"There's still no reason why we can't be successful but yeah, hopefully the future looks a little bit brighter."