Cable told the BBC the crisis was “quite unlike any we have experienced before” due to the fact that it is centred around the collapse of the banking system.

He said: “We are overcoming problems with a massive government deficit, difficult broken banks, levels of personal indebtedness. Projecting and predicting how we get out of this crisis is very difficult indeed.”

The country’s economy dipped back into recession at the end of the last year and has contracted for three quarters in a row, the BBC report said.

The Office for National Statistics will report on how the economy has fared in the third quarter later in October.

The Bank of England will announced the outcome of the latest Monetary Policy Committee meetings later today.