Aggressive stimulus spending by governments helped the world avoid a second Great Depression but full economic recovery will take two years or more, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said Monday.

Krugman said the worst of the global crisis was over with economic and exports growth showing signs of stabilization. Still, recovery was likely to be “disappointing” as government spending wasn’t sustainable in the long-run and unemployment rate still lagging behind, he told a two-day world capital markets conference here.