1. Introduction
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Grade B exam is one of the most prestigious banking exams in India. Every year, thousands of aspirants compete for this officer-level post. To crack the exam, understanding the RBI Grade B syllabus in detail is the first and most important step.
This blog covers the complete syllabus for Phase 1 (Prelims), Phase 2 (Mains), and Interview, along with topic-wise weightage.
2. RBI Grade B Exam Pattern Overview
| Stage | Sections/Subjects | Mode |
| Phase 1 (Prelims) | General Awareness, English, Quant, Reasoning | Online (Objective) |
| Phase 2 (Mains) | Economic & Social Issues (ESI), Finance & Management (FM), English (Descriptive) | Online (Objective + Descriptive) |
| Interview | Personal Interview based on academics, banking, and economy | Face-to-Face |
3. RBI Grade B Phase 1 Syllabus (Prelims)
The Prelims is the qualifying stage consisting of 200 marks with a time duration of 120 minutes.
Subjects & Topics
- General Awareness
- Current Affairs (National & International)
- Indian Economy & Budget 2025 highlights
- Banking & Financial Awareness (RBI functions, Monetary Policy, Inflation, Repo/Reverse Repo, CRR, SLR, etc.)
- Government Schemes & Policies
- Static GK (Important Days, Capitals, Books, International Organizations)
- Quantitative Aptitude
- Data Interpretation (DI)
- Simplification & Approximation
- Number Series
- Profit & Loss, Percentage, Ratio & Proportion
- Simple & Compound Interest
- Time & Work, Time & Distance
- Probability & Permutations
- Reasoning Ability
- Puzzles & Seating Arrangement
- Syllogism
- Inequality
- Coding-Decoding
- Blood Relations
- Input-Output
- Logical Reasoning
- English Language
- Reading Comprehension (RC)
- Error Spotting
- Para Jumbles
- Cloze Test
- Sentence Improvement
4. RBI Grade B Phase 2 Syllabus (Mains)
The Mains exam is more analytical and carries 300 marks. It consists of three papers.
(A) Paper I – Economic & Social Issues (ESI)
Objective + Descriptive
- Growth & Development – Measurement, Poverty, Inequality, Human Development Index
- Indian Economy – Economic Reforms, Liberalisation, Inflation, Employment Generation
- Globalization – IMF, World Bank, WTO, SDGs, Balance of Payments
- Social Issues – Demographics, Urbanisation, Gender Issues, Education, Health, Social Justice
- Government Schemes & Policies (PM Jan Dhan Yojana, Skill India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, etc.)
(B) Paper II – English (Writing Skills)
Descriptive (100 marks)
- Essay Writing on economy, banking, finance & social topics
- Precis Writing
- Reading Comprehension
- Letter/Report Writing
(C) Paper III – Finance & Management (FM)
Objective + Descriptive
- Finance:
- Financial System in India
- Banking Structure & Regulations
- Risk Management & NPAs
- Corporate Finance, Capital Markets, Bonds, Derivatives ○ Inflation, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy
- Management:
- Leadership, Motivation Theories
- Human Resource Development
- Communication & Organisational Behaviour
- Ethics in Management
5. RBI Grade B Interview (Phase 3)
- Weightage: 50 marks
- Conducted for candidates who clear Mains.
- Focus Areas:
- Your academic background
- Banking & financial system knowledge
- RBI functions, monetary policies, Indian economy
- Current economic issues (Inflation, Digital Currency, Budget, etc.) ○ Personality, confidence, clarity of thought
6. RBI Grade B Syllabus Weightage
| Subject | Marks | Mode |
| Phase 1 (4 sections) | 200 | Objective |
| Phase 2 – ESI | 100 | Obj + Descriptive |
| Phase 2 – English | 100 | Descriptive |
| Phase 2 – FM | 100 | Obj + Descriptive |
| Interview | 50 | Personal |
7. Preparation Strategy Tips
- General Awareness: Daily newspaper + monthly current affairs PDFs.
- Quant & Reasoning: Focus on high-weightage topics like DI, Puzzles.
- ESI & FM: Refer to RBI reports, NCERTs, and books like Ramesh Singh (Economics), Prasanna Chandra (Finance).
- English: Practice essays on current topics.