LONDON - BRITISH finance minister Alistair Darling said in an interview on Wednesday that 'we are far from through' the economic downturn, a sign that he will revise his forecast that recovery will begin in mid-2009.

'In the current climate, no responsible finance minister could say that's the job done, far from it. We are far from through this,' he told the Financial Times.

In November, Mr Darling forecast that Britain should now be at the midpoint of a one-year recession, and recovery was expected by the second half of the year.

He told the business daily that those projections were 'based on the evidence we had at the time", adding: 'This year is going to be difficult.

There are going to be some tough calls.' Mr Darling said the government's multi-billion pound fiscal stimulus was the right way to help the economy, even though it involved massive borrowing, and he would 'see what else I can do to support the economy' in the next budget.

He has refused to rule out fresh government action to help struggling banks following October's multi-billion-pound bailout of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), HBOS and Lloyds TSB, and stressed international action was vital.

Mr Darling said he would not 'hang back' and wait for global agreement before taking further domestic action but noted: 'We have got to ensure that whatever we do works with what other countries are doing.' -- AFP