The Bank of England has forecast that Britain's economy will emerge from recession later this year but remain very weak.

In its quarterly Inflation Report, released Wednesday, the Bank predicts that the economy will return to growth in the second half of the year, ending a recession that began in the last quarter of 2011. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King characterized the economy as "slowly healing."

Three months ago, the Bank had forecast growth of 0.8 percent for the year. Those hopes have evaporated as GDP fell by 0.3 percent in the first quarter and 0.7 percent in the second quarter.

The report said inflation may fall back to the government's official target of 2 percent by the end of the year.