Philip Hammond, Britain’s new chancellor of the exchequer, and Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, are seeking to thrash out a co-ordinated plan this summer to restore confidence and prevent a slide into recession in the wake of last month’s EU referendum.

In his first full day in office, Mr Hammond pledged to work with the BoE, while the central bank defied expectations of a interest rate cut at its Monetary Policy Committee meeting yesterday.

Instead, it said it would take action in August to provide monetary stimulus to the economy. With interest rates already close to zero, any powerful boost to economic growth amid a Brexit-related uncertainty is likely to need co-ordinated action from monetary policy alongside lower taxes and some mitigation of planned cuts to public spending.