(PTI): US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke says any economic expansion from the worst global recession in six decades would be slow.

“After contracting sharply over the past year, economic activity appears to be leveling out” in the US and abroad, Bernanke told an audience of some of the world’s leading economists and central bankers.

“The prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good,” he added on Friday.

However, Bernanke warned that “the economic recovery is likely to be relatively slow at first, with unemployment declining only gradually from high levels.”

His remarks came after a new report indicated that sales of existing homes soared 7.2 percent in July to their highest level in two years.

Bernanke also praised the “aggressive and complementary” steps taken by central banks and governments to confront the crisis.

Last month, the International Monetary Fund projected that the global economy would shrink by 1.4 percent in 2009 and grow by 2.5 percent in 2010.