IF the Bank of England (BoE) had not staged an emergency intervention to stop a full-blown financial crisis then there would have been a complete collapse of pension funds today, Sky News reports.
The central bank's actions reportedly staved off "mass insolvencies" of pension pots in yet another consequence of the Chancellor's tax slashing mini-budget announced on Friday.
Kwasi Kwarteng's plans to cut the higher rate of tax, scrap the incoming hike to corporation tax and lift the lid on banker's bonuses already caused the pound to collapse and forced the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release a "concerning" warning.
It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that the UK is in the midst of an "unfolding and rapidly deteriorating economic and financial crisis" which could be worse than the global financial crash in 2008.
Meanwhile, an expert has claimed that the near-miss has exposed vulnerabilities in the UK's pension sector.
And now, it has been revealed by broadcaster Sky that had the BoE not intervened and installed a temporary scheme to buy government-backed bonds, then pension funds could have collapsed.
The SNP described the reports are a "damning" indictment of the Tories policy decisions and demanded an emergency statement within days, not at the end of November.
Sky's economic editor Ed Conway said: "It's very similar in kind of wholesale terms to what we saw with Northern Rock when there was that run on that bank back in 2007.
"It's a vicious cycle. Essentially, people trying to withdraw money, which in turn sometimes leads inevitably to financial collapse.
"I am told there were a swathe of pension funds that, were it not for the Government's intervention, would have essentially collapsed by this afternoon - that's how fast-moving this crisis in the pensions markets was.
"It is the gilts market that lies underneath, that defines benefit pension schemes, all of whom are reliant on that market for their funding and for the structure of their investments.
"The scale of this crisis is now becoming clearer.
"We have seen a big reaction in those markets where the bank has gone and started to buy those securities, but it is an extraordinary day and an extraordinary event.
"They believe that they may have done enough now for the time being, it's a two-week course of emergency buying of some of these assets, but we have never quite seen anything like this before."
Kirsty Blackman MP, the SNP's Shadow Pensions spokesperson, said: "Reports that there would have been mass insolvencies of pension funds today had the Bank of England not intervened due to the Tory government's disastrous budget is utterly damning.
"Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have fled the scene after setting fire to the UK's economy - with millions of households seeing their incomes hammered as the cost of mortgages, rents, and everyday goods rise.
"The disastrous Tory budget is taking the UK to the brink of catastrophe. Parliament must be recalled immediately and an emergency statement must be brought forward within days, not weeks.
"The fact the IMF and Bank of England have been forced to intervene shows how much damage the Tories have done and how serious the situation is.
"The Prime Minister and Chancellor must urgently come before Parliament and reverse their reckless plans.
"However, this economic crisis shows exactly why Scotland needs to become an independent country - so we can escape the damage of Westminster control and get rid of the Tories for good."
The BoE intervened to try to bring surging yields in government bonds – known as gilts – under control as they spiralled higher, sending UK public borrowing costs soaring.
It said it would buy bonds “on whatever scale is necessary”, but has so far resisted calls to deliver an emergency interest rate rise after the pound fell to an all-time record low against the US dollar on Monday.
Alice Haine, personal finance analyst at DIY investing and coaching service Bestinvest, said that the combination of the pound collapse and rise in yields on UK Government bonds "also exposed vulnerabilities in the UK’s pension sector".
She added: "The extraordinary intervention came amid growing concern that defined benefit (DB) pension funds, those where employers are committed to paying retired staff an income linked to their final salary, were at risk of being hammered by the plunge in the value of the pound and sharp moves in the long-term gilts market.”
Baroness Altmann, a former pensions minister, said: “One of the major problems for the markets was that some UK pension funds, which have hundreds of billions of pounds invested in bonds, had to sell their gilts or other assets.”
