The global economy is beginning to recover from the worst of the recent economic downturn, but significant headwinds remain, San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen said on Monday.

Those headwinds come from structural imbalances from financial sector weaknesses and uncertainties from unanticipated environmental and political events, Yellen said in brief introductory comments at the opening of the bank's two-day Asian Banking and Finance Conference.

She did not elaborate.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)