MAINS 2013
GS2
10 marks
The World Bank and IMF, collectively known as Bretton Woods Institutions, are two inter-governmental pillars supporting the world economic and financial order. Superficially they exhibit many common characteristics, yet their roles, functions and mandates are distinctly different. Elucidate.
WRITE IN
7 min
200 words
What the examiner wants
Explain how the World Bank and IMF share features but differ in role, function and mandate.
ElucidateExplain the statement clearly and bring out its meaning with examples.
Demand-wise check
- 1Common: born at Bretton Woods (1944), Washington HQ, quota/share-based voting, US-Europe leadership convention, conditional lending≈35 words
- 2IMF: global monetary stability, short-term balance-of-payments support, surveillance (Article IV), SDRs≈35 words
- 3World Bank Group: long-term development finance (IBRD, IDA), poverty reduction, projects and policy lending≈35 words
- 4India example: IMF support in 1991 BoP crisis; World Bank IDA and IBRD project loans≈35 words
Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.
Answer plan
OriginCommon characteristicsDistinct roles (table)India exampleReform debates
Where marks usually go
- Saying both lend for development projects
- No mention of voting share imbalance
Draw this
- Comparison table: purpose, lending type, tenure, borrowers, key instruments
Value addition
- ReformIMF 2010 quota reform (effective 2016) moved over 6% quota share to emerging economies.IMF, 2016
- EventIndia borrowed from the IMF in 1991 and pledged gold to meet its BoP crisis.RBI history
Mapped topper copies
Reviewed public-source references related to this PYQ. Same-syllabus references are labelled separately.
- Aditya Srivastava · AIR 1 · Page 19 ↗Reviewed PYQ reference
- Shakti Dubey · AIR 1 · Page 19 ↗Same syllabus reference
Links open original public sources. MainsBuddy does not host these answer sheets.
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