Bank of England policymakers meet this week to decide whether the euro zone's worsening debt crisis means they will have to pump up Britain's recession-hit economy with even more billions of new cash.
The bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will likely consider the option at its latest monthly meeting on Thursday.
It is also widely expected to keep its key lending rate at a record low 0.5%.
A string of recent weak data has raised questions about the health of the British economy, which faces headwinds from falling consumer spending, austerity cuts and the debt crisis in major trading partner the euro zone.
The euro zone's dangerous sovereign debt crisis, which has snared Greece, Ireland and Portugal, is now circling Spain, sparking fresh fears of contagion across the 17-nation bloc and beyond. Britain is not a member of the euro zone.
Against this backdrop, many economists believe the MPC could re-start its Quantitative Easing (QE) policy, under which it has so far injected £325 billion sterling of new money into the economy.
Under QE, the bank creates new cash to purchase assets such as government and corporate bonds with the aim of boosting lending and economic activity.
Bank of England policymakers voted unanimously in to leave policy on hold at their May meeting but one MPC member again called for more stimulus and the decision not to expand QE was described as finely balanced.
Since the May meeting, the bank has slashed its forecast for British growth and warned that the euro zone debt crisis is the biggest threat to recovery - even if a credible solution is found.
The economy is now expected to grow by just under 1% this year, down from the BoE's previous forecast of just over 1%, it said last month. Annual inflation will meanwhile remain stubbornly above the BoE's 2% target until mid-2013.
Recent data showed the British economy shrank 0.2% in the first quarter, after a 0.3% contraction in fourth quarter of 2011, hit by fallout from the euro zone crisis. That put Britain firmly back in recession, which is defined as two successive quarters of contraction.
The Bank of England is working with the government and the Financial Services Authority watchdog on contingency plans for a potential break-up of the euro zone.
