Financial crisis has six months or more to go

The poll of over 70 economists across Europe and the U.S. taken February 9-12 found almost half of them predicting the crisis would last for another six to 12 months, while 31 said it would last more than than a year.

Only 7 said it would be over within six months.

In a December poll the majority said the crisis would be over within six to 12 months, while about a third said it would last more than a year.

"We are maybe half through it at best. The economy is worsening at an alarming rate," said Scott Anderson, senior economist at Wells Fargo.

The poll found the outlook for the world economy this year was grim, with median growth forecasts at just 0.2 percent on a purchasing power parity basis compared to an estimate of 3.3 percent for 2008.

Global growth should resurface in 2010, but at a subdued 2.5 percent pace.

Over the past year financial markets have been in turmoil, the S&P 500 stock index has halved, commodity prices have plummeted -- oil is around a third of its price from last June. Money markets are slowly recovering after completely seizing up last year, siphoning off the flow of credit.

Prospects for future growth will encourage investors to return to the market gradually, the poll showed, with 33 of 72 saying risk aversion will fall over the next six months.

That was a close call, however, with 30 saying risk aversion would remain at current levels while nine said they would become more hesitant.