UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — The toll of structural adjustments on the global South and a case for accountability

Q1. In 2026, which one of the following peer-reviewed journals published the paper 'Structural adjustment: damages, reparations and pathways to non-recurrence', which formally argued that the IMF and the World Bank owe reparations to countries of the Global South?

  • A. The Lancet Global Health
  • B. BMJ Global Health
  • C. PLOS Global Public Health
  • D. New England Journal of Medicine

Q2. With reference to Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) framework, consider the following statements: 1. PRSPs were introduced by the World Bank in 2002 as a successor framework to the earlier SAPs. 2. Unlike SAPs, the PRSP framework entirely eliminated loan conditionalities relating to privatisation and trade liberalisation. 3. Both SAPs and PRSPs originate from the Bretton Woods institutions established in 1944. Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. PRSPs were introduced by the World Bank in 2002 as a successor framework to the earlier SAPs.
  2. Unlike SAPs, the PRSP framework entirely eliminated loan conditionalities relating to privatisation and trade liberalisation.
  3. Both SAPs and PRSPs originate from the Bretton Woods institutions established in 1944.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. The term 'Washington Consensus', frequently invoked in critiques of structural adjustment in the Global South, refers to which one of the following?

  • A. The 1944 inter-governmental agreement at Bretton Woods that created the IMF and the World Bank
  • B. A ten-point set of market-oriented policy prescriptions formulated by economist John Williamson in 1989
  • C. The 2002 World Bank framework under which Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers replaced earlier loan conditionalities
  • D. A multilateral declaration adopted at the UN Fourth Financing for Development Conference

Q4. Which of the following have been typically included as policy prescriptions under Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) imposed by the IMF and the World Bank on borrowing countries of the Global South? 1. Currency devaluation 2. Privatisation of state-owned enterprises 3. Nationalisation of foreign-owned commercial banks 4. Trade liberalisation and reduction of import tariffs Which of the above is/are correctly identified?

  1. Currency devaluation
  2. Privatisation of state-owned enterprises
  3. Nationalisation of foreign-owned commercial banks
  4. Trade liberalisation and reduction of import tariffs
  • A. 1, 2 and 4 only
  • B. 2 and 4 only
  • C. 1 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2, 3 and 4

Q5. The 2026 BMJ Global Health paper titled 'Structural adjustment: damages, reparations and pathways to non-recurrence', which formally invoked a reparations framework against the IMF and the World Bank, was co-authored by how many scholars?

  • A. Two
  • B. Three
  • C. Four
  • D. Five