The World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Monday that the pace of decline in the global economy is set to slow and it could see resumed growth as early as late 2009.

My sense is that, while we will still have declines, the rate of the declines (in the global economy) will lessen, Zoellick said during a trip to Warsaw.

The question is when we will return to growth in the global system and that could be late 2009 or 2010. I don't think this will be 2011. he added.

Last week, Zoellick said that the high degree of uncertainty still remains for the global economy but said China could gain surprise growth after its government acted swiftly to stimulate domestic demand.

Central and eastern Europe have been particularly hard hit by the global crisis as investors fled riskier emerging market.

Several countries in the region, including Hungary and Latvia, have had to seek emergency help from international lenders.

China