UPDATE 2-ECB's Weber-Growth won't materialise until mid-2010

FRANKFURT, July 1 (Reuters) - The economy will not return to growth before mid-2010, European Central Bank Governing Council member Axel Weber said on comments published on Wednesday, but which were made a while back. He said the world had seen a strong and synchronised downturn and predicted a slow, but continuous, recovery would follow. "I don't think we'll see a return to positive growth before the middle of next year," the Bundesbank President was quoted as saying in an documentary to be aired on German television later on Wednesday. "We will see a steady but slow recovery, back to positive growth rates," he added. A Bundesbank spokesman later said the interview was conducted eight weeks ago. It is a more pessimistic assessment than most economists. The latest Reuters poll showed a market consensus for the euro zone economy to edge back into growth in Q4 this year and then grow through 2010. But other top German finance figures were more downbeat than Weber. Josef Ackermann, the head of Deutsche Bank said he expected the downturn to continue for another two years. German finance minister Peer Steinbrueck struck a similar tone. "What we are experiencing is a sharp downturn. It will be a long process, where recovery is slow," he was quoted as saying. (Reporting by Marc Jones, editing by Mike Peacock) Keywords: ECB/WEBER ([e-mail]; [phone]; reuters messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

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