The International Monetary Fund praised Spain's austerity programme Friday, but significantly worsened the country's economic growth prospects and expressed concern over its high unemployment, dpa reported. The IMF report estimated at 1.7 per cent the contraction of the Spanish economy this year, instead of the 1.5 per cent the fund had forecast 10 days earlier. The contraction prospects further extend to next year, with thief estimating that Spain's GDP is to fall 1.2 per cent in 2013instead of the 0.6 per cent it had estimated in its most recent prior evaluation, on July 16. The IMF figure places the 2013 contraction at double the rate that was forecast by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who put it at 0.5 per cent only last week. The fund's executive board in Washington urged Spain to "protect the most vulnerable" from the economic crisis, just as the country's statistics body INE released new figures showing a record unemployment rate of 24.6 per cent in the second quarter.