The Commons Treasury Committe says the quantitative easing programme is having little effect on banks lending to businesses and has questioned if it's the best way of boosting the British economy. Their concerns lie in whether the banks will actually see an increase in reserves, which would impact on their ability to lend to businesses.

There are also concerns that new rules on banks are making it more difficult to lend including the withdrawal of emergency funding and pressure to implement new rules forcing banks to hold more capital before the 2015 deadline.

Ben Broadbent of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee believes some of the problems the UK faces can't be offset with monetary policy. The Eurozone crisis has been blamed in part for the bank lending squeeze, but banks are reporting weaker demand for loans due to lower demand from consumers.

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