World Bank Head: 2009 Looks "Difficult",2010 "Highly Uncertain"

ISTANBUL -- This year has been "difficult," next year looks "highly uncertain" and more capital may be needed by 2011, the head of the World Bank said Friday.

But large-scale public deployment of financial resources, including by multilateral lenders, has staved off major trouble, Robert Zoellick said at a press conference in Istanbul.

"The danger today is no longer a collapsing economy... but complacency," Zoellick said.

The World Bank, which finances activity in developing nations through bodies such as the International Finance Corporation, has tried to rise to the challenge the global credit crisis has wrought on emerging economies, he said. But more cash will likely be needed, he added.