May 25 (Reuters) - The global economic crisis is not over but the pace of decline has slowed and some positive signs are emerging in the United States and China, G8 sources told Reuters.
The sources, who are preparing the meeting of Group of Eight finance ministers in Lecce, Italy, on June 12-13, said documents being drawn up for the meeting note some encouraging signs.
"The papers we are working on ahead of the Lecce meeting say the first green shoots are emerging, in the United States and in emerging economies, especially China," one source said.
Another source said the global recession was not over, "but we are seeing a slowing of the speed of contraction."
"Green shoots" have become a frequently used term by policy-makers and economists in recent weeks as confidence and activity indicators in many countries have shown the first signs of improvement after many months of decline.