Newspaper headlines: 'Crisis forces Bank bailout' and 'cuts to follow'
ReutersMost of the front pages feature the figure £65bn - the size of the package announced by the Bank of England on Wednesday to protect Britain's pension funds.
The Guardian says the emergency move was needed to halt what it calls a "doom loop" in the bond markets, and a 2008-style financial crisis, in the wake of last week's mini-budget.
A senior City banker tells the Financial Times that he thought Wednesday morning was "the beginning of the end" because there were no buyers for long-dated government bonds. "It was not quite a Lehman moment, " he says, "but it got close".
In its editorial, the paper says the central bank is having to pick up the pieces from what it calls a reckless mini-budget. It warns that while the Bank can prop up markets for now, the government must urgently restore Britain's economic credibility.
The Sun says markets were spooked by the decision to cut taxes for the richest, but that Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have "inexplicably left a void for critics to fill" by not providing independent forecasts on the impact of the tax cuts.
The Times describes the Bank's action as highly unusual and says economists are warning the decision to buy billions of pounds of government debt could fuel inflation. The paper also says borrowers could have to prove that they can afford interest rates of up to 7% to qualify for a mortgage because markets now expect the Bank of England to increase the cost of borrowing further and faster, with the base rate forecast to peak at 5.5% next spring.
According to the i, Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng now face "Tory fury". The Telegraph says it has been told by a former Tory cabinet minister that the pair are pursuing a "cowboy-style economic policy". The paper says Downing Street has dismissed any suggestion that Mr Kwarteng could resign.
The Express leads with the assertion by ministers that the prime minister's tax cuts are the right plan for economic growth, and the Telegraph's editorial says Ms Truss has no real alternative but to keep her nerve and plough on.
Away from the financial turmoil, the Times reports that scientists have cloned a wolf for the first time. Maya, an Arctic wolf born 100 days ago, was created in China from a skin cell harvested from her genetic mother, and then successfully implanted into the womb of a beagle. The company behind the project says their work could help protect endangered species.
