The protection for medical research, however, could yet require additional cuts to other fields of science, such as physics and engineering.

If all discretionary spending was eliminated, there would still need to be additional cuts needed to bring spending below 18 percent.

That in turn drives the cost of servicing debt higher, forcing governments to make additional cuts just to stand still.

Since then, the downturn in financial markets has intensified, although sources in the bank deny that this explained the additional cuts.

But some analysts fear that additional cuts could push down economic activity and tax revenues and lead to more austerity measures.