Is Britain bust?

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Last Modified: 19 Feb 2009
By: Siobhan Kennedy

One and a half trillion pounds, that is how much Britain's national debt could shoot up, thanks to the cost of bailing out the banks.

£1.5tn is equivalent to almost the entire economic output of the UK.

The grim estimate by the National Office of Statistics is far higher than the chancellor's pre-budget forecasts.

The first time the billions poured into the ailing banks has been taken into account.

And the deepening recession is also denting the government's income from tax.