Canada will lead the other G7 countries in economic growth in 2009, a muted honour considering that the global economy should slow markedly, according to a new International Monetary Fund study released Wednesday.

The IMF said this country should see economic growth in the range of 1.2 per cent next year, less than half of what Canada experienced in 2007, but the best performance among Japan, the United States, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Still, Canada's economy is not immune from the ongoing global financial collapse, the international agency said.

"Although resource-intensive sectors have benefited from high commodity prices, the lagged effects of past real appreciation of the Canadian dollar, together with the United States slowdown, has hit manufacturing hard," said the IMF's World Economic Outlook, produced just ahead of a two-day meeting between IMF and World Bank officials.

Overall, the world economy will grow by 3.9 per cent in 2008 and three per cent in 2009. That level is 40 per cent slower than the five per cent increase it averaged for 2004-2007.

The IMF anticipates the U.S. economy will stumble badly next year, posting a microscopic growth rate of 0.1 per cent next year, a far cry even from this year's expected GDP increase of 1.6 per cent.

All of the major industrialized countries are grappling with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s, the IMF said.

The IMF, which has 185 member nations, conducts economic analyses and provides loans and technical assistance to developing countries.