Bank of England Deputy Governor Paul Tucker today called for "a sense of perspective" amid growing signs the economy is on the road to recovery.

He said that while green shoots are beginning to appear, the outlook remains highly uncertain and may not become clear until late autumn.

"Over recent weeks near-term indicators, notably the business surveys, have improved a bit. Confidence seems to have stabilised," he said.

"But a sense of perspective is needed if these apparently small steps forward are not to be frittered away. Inevitably, the medium-term outlook remains highly uncertain and the path back to anything like normality can only be gradual.

"In particular, for the moment it is unclear whether the financial system can generate the expansion of credit that will most likely be necessary to support recovery."

Tucker warned that bank lending remains "subdued" despite record low interest rates and the quantitative easing programme introduced to pump an extra £125 billion into the economy.

He also said the Bank will stop printing money and raise interest rates as soon as inflation threatens to rise back above the 2% target.