U.K Financial Bailout Reaches 1.4 Trillion Pounds

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. government support for the banking system has risen to 1.4 trillion pounds ($2 trillion) and may climb higher as the financial crisis spreads to building societies and economists warn lenders may need more aid.

The amount invested in, loaned to or pledged to back bank assets now equals Britain’s gross domestic product, or 22,800 pounds for every person in the U.K.

Bank of England warns tensions in banking system at fever pitch

Tensions in the financial system are approaching the fever pitch they reached before the collapse of Lehman Brothers last October, the Bank of England has warned.