The Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, worried that protectionism is on the rise as the recession worsens, promised to do all they can to stop the downturn and avoid erecting new trade barriers. As the G7 gathered in Rome recently, data showed the euro zone economy as a whole and those of its three biggest members -- Germany, France and Italy -- all contracted more sharply than expected in the final quarter of 2008.
German GDP fell 2.1 percent quarter-on-quarter, the worst decline since the country's unification in 1990. Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, approved a 50 billion euro ($65 billion) stimulus package.
French gross domestic product fell 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Economy Minister Christine Lagarde predicted a contraction of more than 1 percent in 2009.
Italy's economy shrank by 1.8 percent in the last three months of 2008, the steepest drop since 1980.
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