MADRID - THE world is facing a serious recession but should avoid a repeat of the Great Depression it experienced in the 1930s, a top US economist said on Sunday in an interview published in Spain.

This recession would be more serious than others, but not as hard as the Great Depression, Jeffrey Sachs, a special advisor to the United Nations secretary general, told the daily El Pais.

Mr Sachs, who is also director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, added he also believed Asia should be able to maintain positive economic growth levels.

Allowing investment bank Lehman Brothers to collapse had been a 'huge mistake' that had worsened the economic crisis, he argued. Any other errors of that magnitude - such as letting troubled US automakers to go under - would lead to a depression.

The International Monetary Fund said in November it expected the US economy to contract by 0.7 per cent next year, compared with its October forecast for 0.1 per cent growth.

In countries using the euro currency, the economy would likely shrink by 0.5 per cent in 2009, down from the October forecast of 0.2 per cent growth, it forecast. -- AFP