The Bank of England is wary of starting to withdraw its £125bn programme to pump money into the economy too early, Charlie Bean, the deputy governor, said yesterday.

Mr Bean told a meeting with regional business leaders in Leeds: "We are going to need to withdraw the stimulus . . . But we don't want to do it too early and nip the recovery in the bud. We will look at conditions one month at a time and try to form our best opinion."