Question

The World Bank has declared that it does not plan to offer new financing to Sri Lanka, which is battling its worst economic crisis in decades, until the country has an adequate macroeconomic policy framework in place. In a statement, the World Bank said Sri Lanka needed to adopt structural reforms that focus on economic stabilisation and tackle the root causes of its crisis. The latter has starved it of foreign exchange and led to shortages of food, fuel, and medicines. The bank is repurposing resources under existing loans to help alleviate shortages of essential items such as medicine, cooking gas, fertiliser, meals for children, and cash for vulnerable households. Based only on the above passage, which one of the following statements can be inferred with \textit{certainty?}

• A. According to the World Bank, the root cause of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is that it does not have enough foreign exchange.
• B. The World Bank has stated that it will advise the Sri Lankan government about how to tackle the root causes of its economic crisis.
• C. According to the World Bank, Sri Lanka does not yet have an adequate macroeconomic policy framework.
• D. The World Bank has stated that it will provide Sri Lanka with additional funds for essentials such as food, fuel, and medicines.

Hint:

When solving inference questions:

Focus only on what is explicitly mentioned in the passage.
Be cautious of options that assume or add extra information not directly stated.
Keywords like "certainty" demand strong evidence from the text.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: The passage clearly mentions that the World Bank does not plan to offer new financing until Sri Lanka has an adequate macroeconomic policy framework in place. This means currently such a framework is absent.
Step 2: Option (A) is incorrect because the World Bank did not state that lack of foreign exchange is the root cause; rather, it said “structural reforms” are needed to tackle root causes.
Step 3: Option (B) is incorrect because the passage does not mention advising; it only mentions requiring reforms.
Step 4: Option (D) is incorrect because the World Bank is \textit{repurposing existing loans}, not providing additional funds.
Step 5: Thus, the only statement that can be inferred with certainty is (C). \(\boxed{C}\)