By Becky Barrow, Jason Groves and Hugo Duncan

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The Coalition is to throw a 140 billion lifeline to small businesses, homeowners and the banks in a high stakes gamble to jolt the economy back into life.

In a dramatic intervention, the Chancellor George Osborne and Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King unveiled plans to pump vast sums into the economy via the banks.

Banks will be lent the cash directly by the Bank of England on condition they pass it on directly to the frontline of the economy in the form of cheaper business loans and mortgages.

Mansion House: George Osborne, Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton and Mervyn King the Governor of the Bank of England

Mansion House: George Osborne, Lord Mayor Alderman David Wootton and Mervyn King the Governor of the Bank of England

Government sources indicated the two schemes will pump around 140billion over the next 12 months into Britain’s big five banks and their smaller rivals.

This eye-watering amount of money is equal to a fifth of all Government spending, and more than the current education and defence budgets combined.

But sources privately admit there is no limit to how much money will be given to the banks, meaning the total bill could be far higher.

A senior Lib Dem said the move was the equivalent of ‘hitting the panic button’.

The extraordinary move comes amid rising Government anxiety that the Eurozone crisis could plunge Britain back into a deep recession that could take years to recover from.

Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, makes his address to the Lord Mayor's dinner in the Mansion House

Mervyn King, the Governor of the Bank of England, makes his address to the Lord Mayor's dinner in the Mansion House

In his annual Mansion House speech in the City last night Mr Osborne warned the Eurozone crisis had made the economic outlook ‘as difficult perhaps as any our country or our continent has faced outside of war.’

But he insisted Britain was ‘not powerless in the face of the Eurozone debt storm’.

Unveiling plans for two new bank lending schemes with Sir Mervyn, he said: ‘Together we can deploy new firepower to defend our economy from the crisis on our doorstep.

‘Funding for lending to the family aspiring to own their home and the business that wants to expand. Liquidity for our high street banks.

‘The Government - with the help of the Bank of England - will not stand on the sidelines and do nothing as the storm gathers.

‘We are rolling up our sleeves and doing everything possible to protect British families and firms.’

Sir Mervyn said the dire economic outlook was prompting the Bank to take unprecedented measures.

He said the world’s central banks had thrown ‘everything bar the kitchen sink’ at solving the economic meltdown in the industrialised world, but the crippling problem remain.

In a sign of the urgency of the situation, the schemes will be launched ‘within a few weeks’ in a frantic bid to shore up the banking system as this weekend’s Greek elections threaten more chaos.

The decision to order the schemes was taken by the so-called ‘Quad’ of senior ministers, comprising David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Mr Osborne and his Lib Dem deputy Danny Alexander, at a meeting last month.

Government sources said a further scheme which will see the Government underwrite tens of billions of pounds on spending on housing and infrastructure projects.

Sources last night insisted that the developments did not mean the Coalition was switching to a Plan B on the economy.

Banks will be lent the cash on condition they pass it on in the form of cheaper business loans and mortgages.

Banks will be lent the cash on condition they pass it on in the form of cheaper business loans and mortgages.

Big decision: The scheme was approved by the 'quad' of senior ministers; Danny Alexander, David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg

Big decision: The scheme was approved by the 'quad' of senior ministers; Danny Alexander, David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg

A Treasury source stressed no new public spending was involved and said the new lending schemes were only possible because the deficit reduction plan had given Britain credibility with the markets.

The two schemes are designed to ease a growing liquidity crisis in Britain’s banks, which has seen lending fall and borrowing rates rise despite record low interest rates.

The decision to press ahead with the schemes also represents a tacit admission that the much-vaunted Project Merlin initiative to make the banks lend has failed.

Sir Mervyn said the first scheme will provide banks with ‘whatever liquidity they require’ and ‘at any time.’

Sir Mervyn said the scale of the problems facing Britain were so serious, which he described as ‘an ugly picture’, that such emergency action is required.

Speaking on the eve of crucial elections in Greece, he said the Eurozone’s problems have created ‘a large black cloud of uncertainty’ over the whole of Europe, including the UK.

He said: ‘The black cloud has dampened animal spirits so that businesses and households are battening down the hatches to prepare for the storms ahead.’

The speech, which was Sir Meryvn’s bleakest address in his nine years’ at the Bank’s helm, also made reference to ‘the paralyzing effect of uncertainty’ and ‘the Great Depression’.

He spoke of the ‘justifiable grievances’ of ‘many millions of people’ around the world who have ‘lost their jobs, their businesses and their economic livelihoods’ as a result of a crisis which they did not create.

Under the two schemes, the banks will not get the money for free.

They will have to hand over their own ‘collateral’, such as a package of mortgages or small business loans, which will be swapped for a cash equivalent from the Bank.

The first scheme, worth ‘at least’ 60billion this year, will provide banks with ‘whatever liquidity they require given the prospect of turbulence ahead.’

Further details will be published tomorrow by the Bank.

Supporters: Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, left, and Lib Dem peer Lord Oakeshott have backed the initiative

An unidentified man tried to give Mr Osborne a Maths text book as he arrived at the Mansion House event

An unidentified man tried to give Mr Osborne a Maths text book as he arrived at the Mansion House event

The second - and bigger - scheme, worth ‘at least’ 80billion over the next 12 months will be only lent to banks if they promise to improve their lending to businesses and families.

It comes after a five-year lending drought which has seen families unable to get a mortgage and thousands of small business owners denied a single penny to grow their company.

Sir Mervyn said banks will not get the money unless they promise to ‘sustain or expand their lending to the UK non-financial sector during the present period of heightened uncertainty.’ Lord Oakeshott, a leading LibDem peer, said: ‘The Governor is right to hit the panic button.

‘Even before the eurozone crisis, our own economy would not grow and our banks would not lend. Ring fencing retail banks [from the casino investment banks] will help.

‘But now we need far bolder action from Government to boost investment and capital spending, especially housebuilding, before the black cloud of fear turns into a deluge of despair.’

Andrew Tyrie, a Tory MP and chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, welcomed the Bank’s dramatic intervention, which is backed by the Treasury.

He said: ‘These are exceptional circumstances. They require exceptional measures.’

It comes as Britain is trapped in the first double-dip recession since the 1970s and the longest economic downturn for a century.