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RBI Grade B preparation

Officers in Grade B (General, DEPR, DSIM) at the Reserve Bank of India.

24 free guides·Conducted by Reserve Bank of IndiaOfficial website

About the RBI Grade B exam

RBI Grade B recruits officers for the Reserve Bank of India in three streams: General, DEPR (economics) and DSIM (statistics). These guides focus on the General stream. It suits graduates who want policy-facing work in central banking and are willing to study the economy and finance in depth, not just practise bank-exam speed.

Phase 1 is a two-hour objective test in general awareness, reasoning, English and quant. Each section has its own clock, and there are sectional cut-offs as well as an overall one. Phase 1 only shortlists. Phase 2 has three papers of 100 marks each: Economic & Social Issues, English writing and Finance & Management. ESI and F&M mix objective questions with typed descriptive answers, and the English paper is fully descriptive. Your final merit is Phase 2 plus a 75-mark interview, out of 375. The two phases fall close together, so prepare for both at once.

Read the Start here guides first: the pattern, eligibility and syllabus, then the Phase 1 and Phase 2 strategies, a six-month plan and the guide to typed answers. Then go subject by subject. ESI and F&M have the most guides because they carry most of Phase 2. After each topic, type one answer on it. Reading about inflation is not the same as explaining it in 400 words against the clock.

RBI Grade B exam pattern at a glance
StagesPhase 1 → Phase 2 → Interview
Phase 1200 marks in 2 hours: General Awareness 80, Reasoning 60, English 30, Quant 30 (shortlisting only)
Phase 2ESI, English and Finance & Management, 100 marks each, with typed descriptive answers
Interview75 marks
Final meritPhase 2 (300) + interview (75) = 375
Negative marking¼ of the question’s marks in objective questions

Patterns change. Confirm details in the latest notification on the official website.

Start here

New to RBI Grade B? Read these first, in this order.

  1. 1The RBI Grade B exam pattern explainedA 200-mark objective Phase 1, a 300-mark Phase 2 of three papers with typed descriptive answers, and a 75-mark interview. The RBI Grade B (General) pattern explained stage by stage, with the arithmetic of timing, negative marking and final merit.
  2. 2RBI Grade B eligibility: age, marks and attemptsRBI Grade B has stricter eligibility than most bank exams, with a minimum percentage in graduation, an age range with extensions for higher degrees, and a limit on attempts. The rules explained with worked examples, plus the details that trip candidates up.
  3. 3The RBI Grade B syllabus, analysedPhase 1 tests bank-exam aptitude plus a heavy dose of general awareness; Phase 2 tests understanding of the economy, finance and management, and your writing. The syllabus paper by paper, with how each part is asked, what to prioritise and a tracker to run it.
  4. 4RBI Grade B Phase 1 strategyPhase 1 has sectional cut-offs and 80 marks of general awareness. Clearing it needs bank-exam speed in reasoning and quant, reliable English, and months of steady current affairs. Section-by-section plans, the maths of guessing, mock analysis and a final-month plan.
  5. 5RBI Grade B Phase 2 strategyPhase 2 is three 100-mark papers (ESI, English and Finance & Management) with typed descriptive answers. It rewards understanding, current examples and clear writing. How each paper works, how to budget 90 minutes of typing, what a good answer looks like, and a plan for the weeks after Phase 1.
  6. 6A six-month RBI Grade B planSix months is a realistic window to prepare both phases together. A month-by-month plan that runs current affairs, aptitude and Phase 2 subjects side by side, with a weekly timetable, an hours budget, checkpoints and what to do if you fall behind.
  7. 7Typing descriptive answers in RBI Grade B Phase 2RBI Grade B descriptive answers are typed in a plain text box, with no spell-check. How fast you need to be, how many words fit in each answer's time, how to lay out an answer without bold or bullets, and a four-week plan to make the keyboard invisible.

Subject by subject

Strategy

Guides on the pattern, eligibility, the three streams, Phase 1 and Phase 2 strategy, reading sources and typed answers. Sources report the age cut-off date and some attempt limits differently, so confirm them in the current notification.

All 15 Strategy guides

Economic & Social Issues

Phase 2 Paper I covers growth and development, economic reforms, globalisation and the external sector, and India’s social structure. It has 50 objective marks and 50 descriptive marks: you answer four of six questions, typed, in about 600 and 400 words.

All 9 Economic & Social Issues guides

Latest RBI Grade B guides

RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesEmployment and unemployment in IndiaIndia's job problem is less about open unemployment than about the quality of work. How the PLFS measures jobs, LFPR, WPR and the unemployment rate worked out, types of unemployment, informality, women's participation, labour codes and policy options, with a model answer and practice questions. 7 min read·29 Sept 2026RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesPoverty and inequality in India: measures and policyHow India has measured poverty, from calorie norms to the Tendulkar and Rangarajan lines and the multidimensional index, the headcount, poverty gap and MPI worked out, how inequality is measured, and the policy debate, with a model answer and practice questions. 8 min read·28 Sept 2026RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesFiscal federalism: Finance Commission and GST CouncilHow taxes and spending are shared between the Centre and the states. The constitutional scheme, vertical and horizontal imbalances, the Finance Commission and its criteria, the divisible pool and cesses, the GST Council, state borrowing and the live debates, with a model answer and practice questions. 8 min read·26 Sept 2026RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesFiscal policy and public finance: deficits, FRBM and debtFiscal policy is the government's use of taxes, spending and borrowing. The budget's structure, the four deficits with a worked example, the FRBM Act and its escape clause, debt dynamics, the quality of spending and the link with monetary policy, with a model answer and practice questions. 8 min read·25 Sept 2026RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesIndia's monetary policy frameworkSince 2016 India has had a statutory flexible inflation-targeting framework run by a six-member Monetary Policy Committee. How the framework came about, its legal basis, the target and accountability rules, the MPC, the LAF corridor and liquidity tools, transmission to loan rates, and the live debates, with a model answer and practice questions. 9 min read·25 Sept 2026RBI Grade BEconomic & Social IssuesInflation: measures, causes and controlInflation sits at the centre of ESI, F&M and the RBI's own mandate. How India measures it (CPI, WPI, CPI-IW, the GDP deflator), base effects, the causes from demand-pull to expectations, why food inflation is so persistent, who gains and loses, and how monetary, fiscal and supply-side policy control it, with a model answer and practice questions. 9 min read·25 Sept 2026