IMF retracts UK bailout bill claim

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A Treasury spokesman said that the figure was "wrong" and had been issued in error.

Chancellor Alistair Darling will issue his own estimate of the cost of the bailout when he delivers the Budget.

"The Budget will make a prudent provision for potential losses from banking interventions in line with our cautious approach to forecasting the public finances," the spokesman said.

A spokesman for the IMF later acknowledged that a mistake had been made and that as a result it was reviewing one of the tables in its Global Financial Stability Report. He added that the cost of UK measures had been incorrectly stated as 13.4% of GDP instead of the correct 9.1%.

The disclosure of the mistake is potentially a huge embarrassment for the IMF which acts as the world financial watchdog.

Reports have suggested that Mr Darling's own estimate will be closer to £60 billion.

The Treasury spokesman said that it will be based on "a detailed understanding of the schemes, stress testing and takes account of the fees".

The IMF estimate said that the cost of support measures would run to 13.4% of the UK's entire economic output of £1.46 trillion in 2008. Only struggling Ireland would pay more as a percentage of its output to rescue its banks, it said.

It had appeared to delivers a fresh blow to Mr Darling on the eve of a Budget, which will unveil soaring public debt and the worst year for the economy since the end of the Second World War.