The UK's recession will end this year and the economy will return to growth in 2010, according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The IMF has sharply raised its forecast for Britain's economy now predicting a growth of 0.2% next year, as opposed to the decline of 0.4% that it predicted in April.

In its report the IMF warned that, "Despite positive signs, the global recession is not over and the recovery is still expected to be slow."