This has meant the Treasury wasa able to issue big quantities of government debt.

Since March, the BoE has bought £148bn of existing gilts, or government bonds, currently at a rate of almost £14bn a week and also bought £152bn of newly issued gilts.

This has helped ensure the private sector did not have to increase its holdings of gilts substantially.

The cost of government borrowing has fallen, with debt sold at an interest rate of 0.2 per cent for the 10-year bond on Tuesday. 

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5.52am update: FTSE bosses recieve full pay again after pandemic wage cuts

Top bosses at UK companies including Foxtons, Persimmon, Severn Trent, Burberry and Bakkavor, are will start getting full pay again following the pandemic.

Housebuilder Persimmon is among the companies which has returned senior executives to full pay only a month after they volunteered to take a 20 percent cut.

Burberry and food manufacturer Bakkavor, also cut payouts to investors as a result of coronavirus.

Other companies, such as advertising group WPP, which is making job cuts, and Dunelm, which used the government’s furlough scheme, are still reviewing whether to reinstate full salaries.

Sarah Wilson, head of Minerva, the investor advisory group, told the FT: “Shareholders will take a harsh view on companies that are indulging in virtue signalling. 

"Companies need to stand by their principles, and they will be judged particularly when things are tough for their staff and customers.”