World Bank chief Robert Zoellick on Tuesday said the United States and the global economy were unlikely to slip back into recession although serious risks remained.
"I don't believe that the United States and the world will go into a double-dip, but there's high degree of uncertainty," Zoellick told a World Bank infrastructure summit in Singapore, .
His remarks came amid growing fears that the global economy could fall into another recession due to economic and debt woes in the US and Europe, DPA reported.
Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam expressed less optimism.
"We are already at stall speed in the US and Europe, which means we are now more likely than not to see a recession," said Tharman, who also heads a policy advisory committee of the International Monetary Fund.
"I am not making a prediction but we are at a stage ... where each new shock takes you further in the direction of a recession," he said.
Speaking at the same summit, the minister said he agreed with Zoellick's view that "the world economy has entered a dangerous new phase."
"Asia will not be immune to a global slowdown," Tharman warned.