Previous Year Question
Which one of the following issues the ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report periodically?
The Asian Development Bank
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
The US Federal Reserve Bank
The World Bank
Correct Answer: D
Detailed Solution
The Global Economic Prospects—GEP is a flagship global economic report published by the World Bank. It is generally issued twice a year and analyses the outlook for the world economy, with particular attention to emerging market and developing economies—EMDEs.
The report principally examines:
Real GDP growth at the global and regional levels.
Economic prospects of emerging and developing economies.
Inflation, interest rates and monetary conditions.
International trade and commodity prices.
Global financial conditions and capital flows.
Risks arising from government and external debt.
Geopolitical tensions and policy uncertainty.
Growth and per capita income trends in low-income countries.
The GEP does not merely estimate growth for the current year. It generally provides forecasts for subsequent years and examines alternative scenarios and risks surrounding those forecasts.
It should be distinguished from other major outlook reports:
Report | Publisher | Principal focus |
Global Economic Prospects | World Bank | Global and developing-economy growth |
World Economic Outlook | IMF | Global macroeconomic outlook |
Asian Development Outlook | Asian Development Bank | Asia and the Pacific |
Economic Outlook | OECD | Mainly OECD and partner economies |
The Asian Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and US Federal Reserve do not publish the report bearing this title.
Current position (September 2026)
The World Bank continues to publish Global Economic Prospects as a biannual report. As of September 2026, the latest available June 2026 edition is titled Navigating a Cloudy Outlook.
According to this edition:
Global growth was projected at 2.5% in 2026.
Growth in low-income countries was projected at 5.4%.
South Asia was expected to remain the fastest-growing EMDE region in 2026.
Major downside risks included geopolitical conflict, commodity-market disruptions, expensive debt and policy uncertainty.