Which of the following organizations brings out the publication known as ‘World Economic Outlook’?

The IMF brings out the World Economic Outlook (WEO) twice a year, usually in April and October, alongside the Global Financial Stability Report and the Fiscal Monitor. The WEO gives the IMF's projections for global growth, inflation, trade and current account balances. It is a key output of the IMF's surveillance function, which rests on Article IV of its Articles of Agreement.

Why the others are wrong:

• UNDP: publishes the Human Development Report, which ranks countries on the Human Development Index.
• World Economic Forum: a Geneva-based body known for the Davos annual meeting, the Global Competitiveness Report and the Global Risks Report.
• World Bank: publishes the World Development Report and Global Economic Prospects, which focus on growth and development rather than the WEO.

Core concept: global macroeconomic surveillance by the IMF. For Mains GS-III, the WEO is a useful reference for discussing global slowdown, commodity price shocks and their spillovers to India's growth outlook.

Trap: students mix up the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects with the WEO because both cover world growth. Remember that the WEO is the IMF's flagship publication.