The list of “problem” banks grew by almost 50 per cent in the fourth quarter, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said on Thursday, stoking fears that further bank failures could put the agency’s deposit insurance fund under severe pressure.

Sheila Bair, FDIC chairman, suggested more failures were likely in spite of government support for the banking industry. She warned that, given the pace of industry deterioration, proposed increases to the premiums banks pay for receiving deposit insurance may fall short of the insurance fund’s needs. “The outlook for bank failures has increased since we initially proposed making these changes last fall,” said Ms Bair.