If savers are still doubtful about the safety of their money in British banks they may like to brush up on their Setswana. Confidence in Britain’s banking system has fallen to such depths that it now ranks below Botswana in a league table compiled by the World Economic Forum.

British banks, which two years ago were considered the safest in the world, have sunk to 44th position in a survey of banks across 134 countries. Botswana has risen to 38th.

It would also be safer to deposit your savings in Namibia (17th), Chile (18th), Brazil (24th), Senegal (33rd), Peru (42nd) or El Salvador (43rd), according to a survey of 12,000 executives based around the world.

Worse still, the survey was compiled in the spring, before the severity of the banking crisis became clear. Experts who help to compile the annual Global Competitiveness Report suggested that Britain could fall again next year if the recent rescue package was slow to prompt a recovery. Bankers in Benin, Malawi and Guyana – each fewer than five places below Britain – may have reason to feel smug.

Jennifer Blanke, a senior economist at the World Economic Forum, hesitated to recommend that British customers move their money to Botswana. “I don’t know about that,” she said. “But it is one of the best-run countries in Africa. It has the lowest corruption levels and it is probably one of the countries to go to in terms of investments. But I would never advocate running to another country because your one is in trouble.”

Charles Harvey, an economist who has worked with Botswana’s central bank, said that the country was in good shape. “They haven’t been buying funny assets backed by dodgy mortgages,” he said. “The Government makes a surplus every year and has no domestic debts. The other big player is De Beers, the diamond company, and they don’t borrow either. The diamond revenue has poured into the country like it’s raining dollar bills.” Unlike other mineral-rich African countries such as Nigeria, Botswana had been very cautious in its spending, he said.

The country with the top-ranked system is Canada, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg, Australia and Denmark. America, where some of Wall Street’s biggest names have collapsed, rated only 40, just behind Germany at 39. Japan, which invested heavily in the American sub-prime market, is in 93rd position.

The rankings were compiled by executives in all countries, who gave a score between 1.0 (insolvent and possibly requiring a government bailout) and 7.0 (healthy, with sound balance sheets). Canada was awarded 6.82, Botswana 6.14 and Britain 6.02.