LONDON: The world economy lurched toward recovery on Wednesday even as fears lingered on financial markets, brightening the sky for talks between G20 finance ministers in London later this week.

Australia surprised with a jump in growth in the second quarter, US manufacturing expanded, European economies continued their gradual emergence from the worst crisis in decades and company results showed an upturn.

The worst of the financial crisis is “over for the time being,” Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, told reporters as he arrived for a meeting in Brussels.

Finance ministers from the Group of 20, which comprises leading developed and developing nations, will be meeting in London at the weekend to lay the groundwork for a G20 economic summit in the US city of Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25.

World leaders have been upbeat but equally cautious about declaring victory in the epic battle against recession and have warned that recovery will be slow as they focus on the looming dilemma of how to exit stimulus programs.

“The global economy is not out of the woods yet by a long stretch,” Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said even as data showed Australia’s economy growing 0.6 percent in the second quarter — the best result among developed countries. His Treasurer Wayne Swan sounded a more upbeat note, calling the result “remarkable” given the fragility of the world economy and saying: “Today’s result means we are the fastest growing advanced economy over the past year.”

Resource-rich Australia’s shipments to China and its government stimulus program have helped shield it from the worst of the global downturn, with the only blip so far an 0.5 percent contraction in the final quarter of 2008.

In the United States, US President Barack Obama on Tuesday said the growth in US manufacturing in August for the first time in 19 months was “a sign that we are on the path to economic recovery.”

But he also warned: “There is no doubt we have a long way to go.” Analysts at Dutch bank ING said in a research note to clients: “A stronger US manufacturing sector could help underpin the global recovery, and provide support for commodity prices.” They added however that US “economic activity remains exceedingly weak.”

Paul Dales from Capital Economics in London was also optimistic but cautious.

“The good news is that the recovery in the US manufacturing and housing sectors appears to be gathering pace. The bad news is that it is still not creating any extra jobs,” Dales said. “It is worth remembering that the recovery has not even begun in the all-important consumer sector,” he said, adding: “Overall, it’s shaping up to be another jobless recovery.”

Experts warn major headaches for the world economy still lie ahead as some government stimulus programs begin to wind down, unemployment rises and concerns linger over the banking sector.

In Germany for instance, fears rose on Wednesday of massive job cuts in the giant auto industry as a five-billion-euro ($7.1-billion) government “cash-for-clunkers” program wound down.

Meanwhile, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said Wednesday he will press Group of 20 leaders at a summit this month for more aid to developing countries, which he said can help hasten a global recovery.

Developing countries in Africa and elsewhere can help to spur global trade if they get financing to drive investment and consumer spending, Zoellick said. He said he would press that message when the leaders of the United States, Britain, China and other major economies meet Sept. 24-25 in Pittsburgh.

“I would urge the countries at the G20 to move beyond financial stabilization to meet the needs of developing countries,” Zoellick said. “China is the example, because China’s growth helps the rest of the world.” Zoellick met earlier with Premier Wen Jiabao and other Chinese officials and said he agreed with them that Beijing should stick with its stimulus, rather than rolling it back as some analysts have suggested.

“China’s actions have helped to prevent the global crisis from getting worse, and I agree with its leaders that it is too early to roll back fiscal and monetary measures,” Zoellick said.

Zoellick said Beijing’s decision to stick to its stimulus should be taken as a “worthy caution” to other governments “because China has been growing pretty well.” The World Bank raised its growth forecast for China this year from 6.5 percent to 7.2 percent in June. Zoellick was even more optimistic, saying growth could be about 8 percent.

Zoellick said he also talked to managers of China’s sovereign wealth fund, the China Investment Corp., about possible investments in a World Bank fund set up to invest in sub-Saharan Africa. “CIC expressed interest in this as a commercial investment vehicle, but obviously there’s no decisions made on their part,” he said.