British finance minister Alistair Darling refused Sunday to rule out fresh government action to help struggling banks although he said it was "not your first port of call."
"When I announced our original plans in October... I said it would be necessary for us to continue to take whatever measures were necessary to ensure that we get lending in the system," he told BBC radio.
"Recapitalisation is not your first port of call but over the next few weeks we will continue to discuss with banks what further steps we can take that would help lending, particularly to small- and medium-sized businesses."
He went on: "We have got to make sure these banks are strong enough in the first place - in other words, to help that Recapitalisation process.
"But we also have to ensure there is enough money in the system so that businesses and people looking for mortgages can get the money."
Reports suggest Darling, the chancellor of the exchequer, is considering a package of new measures, which may include gathering up banks' bad loans into a new entity, or exchanging them for government bonds.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown earlier played down the prospect of injecting more state cash into struggling banks, telling the Observer newspaper it "is not the first thing on any agenda."
The Bank of England warned in its quarterly credit conditions survey Friday that despite government action, the country's banks intend to further reduce lending to individuals and businesses over the next three months.
Darling admitted: "Although lending is taking place, it is not taking place at a level I would like to see."
In October, three major British banks - RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB - were bailed out with a 37-billion-pound package, which at the time, before the pound's sharp fall in value, was worth 47 billion euros or 64 billion dollars.
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