The U.S. economy is starting to show signs of shrinking more slowly but positive growth is not expected until sometime next year, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.

There has been some improvement in business confidence, some signs of bottoming out in housing market, but these are early days and we should not expect a return to growth any time soon, Charles Collyns, IMF's deputy director of research, told a press conference.

We don't expect a return to positive growth in the U.S. until some time next year, he said in response to a question.

Collyns also said China was showing considerable resilience as it had reacted strongly to counter the global slump.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani and Lesley Wroughton; Editing by James Dalgleish)

China International Monetary Fund