Washington - World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday warned that protectionism was rising as governments battle to keep domestic industries alive, and called on wealthy nations to invest more money in social services for poor countries struck by the global recession.

"The danger of protectionism is increasing," Zoellick said at a press conference in Washington, ahead of a semi-annual meeting of members of the World Bank and its sister lender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), this weekend.

Sydney - Australia's economy will contract 1.4 per cent this year - but almost all other developed economies will shrink more, Treasurer Wayne Swan said Thursday.

He was commenting on an update from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that forecasts an economic slump and Australian unemployment rising to 7.8 per cent by 2010.

Swan said the outlook "is a much milder contraction than expected in almost every other advanced economy, which combined are expected to contract by an unprecedented 3.8 per cent in 2009."

Berlin/Washington - Europe is facing a sharp slump in growth this year, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, led by a dramatic 5.6-per-cent contraction in its biggest economy, Germany, and resulting in a surge in unemployment.

With global trade shrinking and the world economy gripped by recession, the IMF slashed its 2009 growth forecast for the 16-member eurozone by another 1 per cent to 4.2 per cent with the currency bloc managing to pull back to a 0.4-per-cent decline in 2010.

Washington - While Africa has managed to avoid the worst effects of a recession that has gripped most other parts of the globe, the International Monetary Fund warned that the downturn could erase much of the hard-won gains made by the world's poorest continent over the past few years.

Growth in Africa will slow to 2 per cent this year, down from 5.2 per cent in 2008, before recovering to 3.9 per cent in 2010, the IMF said in its updated World Economic Outlook.

Washington - Asian economies were not exposed to toxic US mortgage-related assets at the heart of the ongoing recession, but they have been heavily impacted by the subsequent slump in global trade, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday.

Advanced Asian economies were the hardest hit and for the region as a whole, and gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract by about 6 per cent in 2009 after expanding by 3.5 per cent before the crisis started unravelling in 2007.

Washington  - The International Monetary Fund said late Monday in Washington that it would pursue rapid authorization for a requested 10.4-billion-dollar credit line being sought by Colombia.

After receiving a formal request from Colombian officials for a precautionary, flexible one-year arrangement, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn issued a statement of his intent "to move ahead rapidly in seeking approval by the (IMF)'s executive board of Colombia's request."