A wave of bad economic figures swamped the government on Thursday, a day after the prime minister and the chancellor insisted the UK economy was fundamentally strong and would “weather” global financial storms.

None of the economic data published contained Christmas cheer for the Treasury. The credit squeeze has contributed to the worst public finance deficit ever in the first eight months of the financial year; the first drop in new lending by banks and building societies for two years; almost no growth in money deposited in banks; a record current account deficit; and economic growth in the third quarter generated in the main by consumers spending borrowed money.