WB chief: Global downturn slowing

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World Bank President Robert Zoellick says the global economic situation is not getting any better, but the pace of the decline should start to slow.

Zoellick says he's currently more concerned about managing global risks than pinpointing when the economy will recover. He says risks the World Bank is focusing on include cleaning up of bad loans in the banking system, possible economic shocks in Central and Eastern Europe, and the rolling over of private sector debt in developing markets.

He says the bank is well-capitalized to meet strong lending demand, and has about 100 billion US dollars of loans on its books. He notes it can do another 100 billion dollars of lending over the next three years.

Robert Zoellick, President of World Bank said "I believe globally we are likely to see the rate of declining lessen. Frankly, in an environment like this there is just a high degree of uncertainty."