WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Finance chiefs from the G7  powers said yesterday the global economy may be pulling out of  the depths of a recession although recovery was not yet  assured, and they pledged to make certain big financial firms  are sound.

Group of Seven finance ministers and central bankers said  after their meeting that economic activity should begin to  recover later this year. However, the outlook remained weak and  there was a risk that the global economy may still worsen.
“We are right to be somewhat encouraged, but we would be  wrong to conclude that we are close to emerging from the  darkness that descended on the global economy early last fall,”  U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in a statement.

It was a less dire assessment than the G7 delivered at its  last official gathering in February, when leaders warned that  the severe downturn would persist through most of 2009 and made  no mention of promising signs of stability.

“Recent data suggest that the pace of decline in our  economies has slowed and some signs of stabilization are  emerging,” the G7 said in a closing communique.

“We will continue to act, as needed, to restore lending,  provide liquidity support, inject capital into financial  institutions, protect savings and deposits and address impaired  assets. We reaffirm our commitment to take all necessary  actions to ensure the soundness of systemically important  institutions,” the statement said.