Bradford & Bingley's announcement has heaped further pressure on Barclays to announce a capital-raising when it gives a first-quarter trading update today. B&B's rights issue will push the bank's core equity Tier 1 ratio, a measure of financial strength, to 9.2 per cent, well ahead of that of Barclays at about 5 per cent.

Ralph Silva, financial analyst at Tower Group, said: “Barclays' Tier 1 capital ratio will not be seen positively by investors. The bank should be somewhat embarrassed that a single-line business like B&B is better-capitalised than Barclays.” Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS, both of which are undertaking rights issues, are aiming for ratios of above 6 per cent. Citigroup analysts calculate that Barclays would need to raise about £6 billion to achieve a 6.5 per cent ratio.

Marcus Agius, the chairman of Barclays, told investors two weeks ago that the bank had the “luxury of time” to decide how to bolster its capital cushion - by either cutting back riskier operations, slowing growth or raising cash. The bank is likely to tap investors, such as China Development Bank and Temasek, for money before considering a rights issue.

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