LONDON - PRIME Minister Gordon Brown will warn that Britain's banks need bold and far reaching solutions on Wednesday after his government unveils a plan to deal with the country's troubledbanking system.

Mr Brown will say: 'Extraordinary times call for bold and far reaching solutions. These decisions on stability and restructuring are the necessary building blocks to allow banks to return to their basic function of providing cash and investment for families and businesses,' at a press conference with Treasury chief Alistair Darling.

The government will make a statement before markets open on Wednesday.

Mr Brown and Mr Darling held a meeting with Bank of England governor Mervyn King and Financial Services Authority chairman Adair Turner on Tuesday to consider possible new action to stabilise thecountry's financial system.

After the session, Mr Darling promised tomake a statement before markets opened on Wednesday but he offered no details.

Earlier this week, Mr Darling, Mr King and Mr Turner met with heads of RBS, Barclays and Lloyds to discuss the possibility of the government investing as much as 50 billion pounds (S$128 billion) in the country's banks in order to shore up their balance sheets and restore confidence in the institutions, according to two banking officials with knowledge of the meeting who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was confidential.

The 50 billion pounds worth of taxpayer money would buy the government large equity stakes in the banks.

The BBC reported on Tuesday that the British government was poised to announce a rescue package for the banking system. It also reported that the package included a proposal to inject capital intobanks and to provide a standby facility to ensure banks have enough cash to fund their day-to-day operations. -- AP