Complete RBI Grade B Syllabus 2027: Phase 1, Phase 2 & Interview

RBI is a prestigious organization that does the job of regulating our economy, making monetary policy, and issuing national currency, among the many other important tasks handled by them.

Hence, it is easy to understand why the RBI Grade B exam is popular among government job aspirants, particularly banking aspirants.

In this article we’ll be discussing the RBI Grade B exam syllabus, which is important for each and every aspirant to know in detail before they decide to sit for this examination.

The syllabus helps in understanding the scope of the exam as well as helps in evaluating your own current knowledge.

It serves as a guidebook to make a plan on how to approach this exam. The RBI Grade B syllabus is divided into Phase 1 and Phase 2, which essentially refers to the two phases in which the exam is held, Phase 1 being the qualifying exam and Phase 2 exam’s marks being counted in the final merit list.

Therefore, it is very important to understand the syllabus effectively.

RBI Grade B Syllabus 2027 Overview

Here we have given a brief summary of the syllabus that will be discussed in the table below.

RBI Grade B Phase 1 Syllabus 2027

The RBI examination is an objective exam; there are no descriptive questions. Each correct answer fetches 1 mark, and each wrong answer leads to a deduction of 0.25 marks.

The subjects of the phase 1 exam are Quantitative aptitude, Reasoning aptitude, English and General Awareness. Below we have mentioned the syllabus for each subject.

Quantitative Aptitude –

1. Percentage
2. Profit & Loss, Discount
3. Ratio & Proportion
4. Simplification
5. Simple & Compound Interest
6. Time & Work
7. Pipes & Cistern
8. Number Series & Number System
9. Time, Speed, & Distance 
10. Trains & Boats
11. Mixture
12. Average
13. Ages
14. Partnership
15. Area, Volume
16. Probability
17. Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency
18. Quadratic Equation
19. Quantity Comparison

Reasoning –

1. Alphabetical, Alphanumeric Series
2. Coding & Decoding
3. Syllogism
4. Direction Sense
5. Inequality
6. Ranking
7. Blood Relation
8. Seating Arrangement
9. Puzzles
10. Machine Input Output
11. Statement – Assumption
12. Statement – Course of Action
13. Cause and Effect
14. Statement Argument
15. Statement Conclusion
16. Data Sufficiency

English –

1. Grammar
2. Error Spotting
3. Sentence Improvement
4. Comprehension Ability
5. Comprehension passage
6. Cloze Test
7. Rearrangement
8. Para Jumbles
9. Double Fillers
10. Vocabulary – Synonyms, Antonyms, One-word Substitution, and Phrasal Verbs

General Awareness –

Static Syllabus

1. Chief Ministers and Cabinet Ministers
2. National Parks and Sanctuaries
3. Airport Locations, Stadiums
4. Organisations’ Headquarters
5. Banks’ Headquarters and Taglines
6. Power Plants in India
7. Indian Dance Forms
8. Countries’ Capitals, and their Currencies
9. Important Days

Current Affairs Syllabus

1. National News: MoUs, summits, and major events related to India.
2. International: Summits and conferences held abroad.
3. Financial & Economics News
4. Financial Awareness: RBI and SEBI Notification and Regulations
5. Defence: Military exercises, drills, and major updates related to the defence sector of India
6. Days in News: Major events or days, along with their date and theme
7. Persons in News: Obituaries, appointments, retirements
8. Sports: Major tournaments and their winners
9. Science, Technology, and Space
10. Awards and Honours
11. Environment
12. Banking, Economy-related news
13. Reports and Government Schemes
14. Books and Authors

Now, let’s move on to RBI Grade B Phase 2 syllabus.

RBI Grade B Phase 2 Syllabus

Phase 2 of the RBI Grade B examination consists of objective as well as descriptive questions. The subjects are Finance and Management, Economic and Social Issues, and English. 

Finance and Management –

a) Financial System

1. Structure and Functions of Financial Institutions 
2. Functions of Reserve Bank of India 
3. Banking System in India – Structure and Developments, Financial Institutions – SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NABARD, NHB, NaBFID etc. 
4. Recent Developments in Global Financial System and its impact on Indian Financial System 
5. Role of Information Technology in Banking and Finance
6. Non-Banking System 
7. Developments in Digital Payments

b) Financial Markets

Primary and Secondary Markets (Forex, Money, Bond, Equity, etc.), functions, instruments, recent developments

c) General Topics

1. Financial Risk Management 
2. Basics of Derivatives 
3. Global financial markets and International Banking – broad trends and latest developments 
4. Financial Inclusion 
5. Alternate source of finance, private and social cost-benefit, Public-Private Partnership 
6. Corporate Governance in Banking Sector 
7. The Union Budget – Concepts, approach and broad trends 
8. Basics of Accounting and Financial Statements – Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss, Cash Flow Statements, Ratio Analysis (such as Debt to Equity, Debtor Days, Creditor Days, Inventory Turnover, Return on Assets, Return on Equity, etc.) 
9. Inflation: Definition, trends, estimates, consequences and remedies (control): WPI- CPI – components and trends; striking a balance between inflation and growth through monetary and fiscal policies

Economic and Social Issues –

a) Growth and Development

1. Measurement of growth: National Income and per capita income
2. Poverty Alleviation and Employment Generation in India
3. Sustainable Development and Environmental issues.

b) Indian Economy

1. Economic History of India – Changes in Industrial and Labour Policy
2. Monetary and Fiscal Policy since reforms of 1991
3. Priorities and recommendations of Economic Survey and Union Budget
4. Indian Money and Financial Markets: Linkages with the economy
5. Role of Indian banks and Reserve Bank in the development process
6. Public Finance
7. Political Economy
8. Industrial Developments in India
9. Indian Agriculture
10. Services sector in India. 

c) Globalization

1. Opening up of the Indian Economy
2. Balance of Payments
3. Export-Import Policy
4. International Economic Institutions – IMF and World Bank – WTO – Regional Economic Cooperation; International Economic Issues. 

d) Social Structure in India 

1. Multiculturalism 
2. Demographic Trends
3. Urbanisation and Migration
4. Gender Issues
5. Social Justice

English –

The latest notification mentions, ‘The paper on English shall be framed in a manner to assess the writing skills including expression and understanding of the topic.’

Usually, the three questions asked are essay writing, précis, and reading comprehension.

RBI Important Topics to Focus on

Below we have listed some topics which are very important to focus on.

1. Current Affairs (Last 6–8 Months)
2. RBI Reports
3. Budget
4. Economic Survey
5. Banking Awareness
6. Inflation
7. Monetary Policy
8. Financial Markets
9. Management Theories

How to Cover Syllabus: Tips and Tricks

• It is important for the candidate to first gain proficiency in Quant, Reasoning, and English since these are the subjects of phase 1 and need to be cleared to advance to phase 2.
• The candidate should refer to the material or any other book/online resource for the practice QRE.
• If someone is a beginner, they should give 3 months to these subjects before getting started with GA and phase 2 subjects.
• General awareness should be done for a period of 6-7 months. Candidates should focus on one resource, and if they are comfortable, then at most two resources should be used for GA.
• Candidates, especially beginners, should make sure they are reading current affairs, PIB, and RBI circulars daily (all three are part of GA), since initially they take up a lot of your time since you’re getting used to reading up on so much information daily.
• One day should be dedicated to GA revision.
• After completing all the concepts of QRE, candidates should get started with giving mocks of SBI/IBPS PO/Clerk, as they help in developing good speed and also a good foundation.
• After the candidate has gained enough proficiency in the above points, then they can get started with reading the static part of the phase 2 subjects.
• Along with this, 2 months prior to the exam it is advisable to start covering the government schemes of various ministries.
• After a candidate has sufficiently covered the phase 2 syllabus, they should start answer-writing practice.
• It is advisable to refer to a newspaper as well to be well acquainted with the day to day happenings, and also the business section of the newspaper is very important, keeping in mind the dynamic nature of this exam, especially in the recent years.

Has the RBI Grade B Syllabus changed?

The phase 1 syllabus has remained unchanged, but in 2021 a couple of changes were introduced in phase 2 of the RBI Grade B exam pattern, they are all listed below:

• Descriptive sections were introduced in Paper 1 (ESI) and Paper 3 (FM), which then reduced the objective section to 50% of the paper.
• The time duration allotted to Paper 1 and Paper 3 was consequently increased from 90 mins to 120 mins.
• Weightage for the final interview stage was raised from 50 marks to 75 marks.
• In the interview stage a psychometric test was also introduced

Candidates should note that the exam has become quite dynamic in nature in terms of the kind of questions asked from different topics and the difficulty of the exam. They are advised to carefully analyse the last 4-5 years’ question papers.