The Bank of England’s interest rate setting committee believed the need to pump newly created money into the economy was so urgent that it was united on the need to do so at its meeting two weeks ago.

“The committee unanimously agreed that the [Bank] governor [Mervyn King] should write to the chancellor to seek authority to conduct purchases of government and other securities, financed by the creation of central bank money ... ,” say the minutes of the monetary policy committee meeting held earlier in February and released on Wednesday.