Addressing reporters on the occasion of release of G-20 Surveillance Note in Washington, senior IMF officials, however, emphasised that the world body expects advanced countries to turn around and grow at a moderate pace in 2010.

"So while growth is slowing down, different regions are being affected differently depending upon how the transmission affects each country in the region," an IMF official said asking reporters not to name senior officials who held the briefing on the occasion.

China, for example, the official said is already putting very substantial stimulus and IMF is already seeing some signs of a firming of activity in China, which they said is very welcome.

"However, other emerging economies that rely for example on commodity exports or on exports of manufacturing goods to the advanced economies will find it very difficult to recover in any sustained way until we see the recovery coming in the advanced economies," the official said.