RBI Grade B Previous Year Questions: Phase 2 Topic Trends (2023–2026)
We mapped every memory-based Phase 2 question from 2023 to 2026 to its syllabus topic, for ESI, Finance and Management, objective and descriptive. RBI does not publish its question papers; these questions are memory-based. See also the RBI Grade B syllabus and exam pattern.
What the last three years show
- Government schemes are the biggest group of ESI objective questions every year, but the schemes change. Agriculture and farmer schemes went from 1 question in 2023 to 7 in 2024 and 8 in 2025, then none in 2026, when a passage on Lakhpati Didi (4 questions) and savings and welfare schemes came instead.
- IMF and global reports came back strongly in 2026 with 5 questions (the World Economic Outlook passage, the WEF Chief Economists' Outlook and the IMF Fiscal Monitor), after none in 2025.
- New in ESI in 2026: fiscal policy and the FRBM Act (4 questions), the Periodic Labour Force Survey (3) and RBI's FREE-AI committee report on AI in finance (3).
- In Finance, accounting and ratio numericals keep rising: 3 questions in 2025 and 6 in 2026, the largest Finance topic that year. 2026 also brought RBI liquidity management (4) and stablecoins (3).
- In Management, ethics has been asked every year, and organisational change is growing: asked in the descriptive paper in 2025 and twice in the objective paper in 2026.
- Some 2026 topics crossed papers: the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion 2025–30 was asked in both the ESI and Finance descriptive papers, and stablecoins in both Finance objective and ESI descriptive.
Economic and Social Issues (ESI)
Objective questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| Government schemes – Agriculture / farmers | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 16 | High |
| Sustainable development and environment | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 14 | High |
| Reports – IMF / World Economic Outlook / global | 4 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 13 | High |
| Government schemes – Social welfare | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 | Medium |
| Government schemes – Health / insurance | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 11 | High |
| Government schemes – Savings / investment | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | High |
| Government schemes – Labour / employment | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | High |
| Government schemes – Gender / social welfare | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | Medium |
| Reports – Gender / SDG | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 6 | Medium |
| WTO and globalisation | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Medium |
| Government schemes – Housing / urban | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | Medium |
| Reports – World Development Report / World Bank | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Reports – Economic Survey | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Current affairs – Capital markets / SEBI | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Reports – Environment / forest | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Fiscal policy and FRBM | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | New |
| Government schemes – MSME / entrepreneurship | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Medium |
| Employment and labour surveys (PLFS) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | New |
| Current affairs – AI in finance (RBI FREE-AI report) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | New |
| Balance of payments | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Inflation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Social structure – Census | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
Descriptive questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| Reports – Gender / SDG | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | High |
| Sustainable development and environment | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | High |
| Current affairs – Startups / industry | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Medium |
| Current affairs – Digital / fintech | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | Medium |
| Government schemes – Gender / social welfare | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Medium |
| Government schemes – Labour / employment | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Medium |
| Monetary policy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | High |
| Reports – World Development Report / World Bank | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Medium |
| Reports – Environment / forest | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Medium |
| Poverty and employment | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Medium |
| Social structure | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Medium |
| Government schemes – Housing / urban | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Low |
| Gender issues – feminisation of agriculture | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
| Financial inclusion (NSFI 2025–30) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
Finance (Paper III)
Objective questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| Accounting and ratio analysis | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | High |
| Financial institutions | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 8 | High |
| Capital markets / SEBI (current affairs) | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | High |
| Corporate governance in banking | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | Medium |
| Financial inclusion schemes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Medium |
| RBI functions | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | High |
| Inflation and macroeconomics | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| MSME / TReDS (current affairs) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Financial markets | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Digital / fintech (current affairs) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | Medium |
| RBI monetary operations and liquidity management | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | New |
| Budget and public finance | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Medium |
| Derivatives | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | Medium |
| Financial instruments | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | Low |
| Risk management | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Low |
| RBI regulations and circulars (current affairs) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | New |
| Capital markets | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Medium |
| Alternate sources of finance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Low |
Descriptive questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| RBI functions | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | High |
| Digital / fintech (current affairs) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | Medium |
| Financial markets | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | High |
| Financial inclusion schemes | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Medium |
| Derivatives | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | High |
| Capital markets | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | High |
| Capital markets / SEBI (current affairs) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Medium |
| Budget and public finance | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | Medium |
| RBI schemes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Medium |
| Global financial markets and IFSCA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
Management (Paper III)
Objective questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| Organisational behaviour – Personality | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 | Medium |
| Evolution of management thought | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 9 | High |
| Ethics theories | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | High |
| Motivation theories | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | High |
| Communication | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | High |
| Environment / SDG questions in the FM paper | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Medium |
| Leadership theories | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | High |
| Organisational change / OD | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | Low |
| Corporate governance | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Low |
| Organisational behaviour – Interpersonal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Low |
| Organisational behaviour – Power | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Low |
Descriptive questions
| Topic | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total | Priority |
|---|
| Communication | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | High |
| Leadership theories | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | High |
| Ethics theories | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | High |
| Organisational change / OD | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | High |
| Organisational behaviour – Interpersonal (Johari window, conflict) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | New |
| Evolution of management thought | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | Medium |
| Corporate governance (audit committee) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | New |
High-priority topics for 2027
Economic and Social Issues (ESI)
Objective
- Government schemes – health, insurance and savings
- Agriculture and farmer schemes (PM-KISAN, PMDDKY)
- Sustainable development and environment
- Labour and employment schemes
- IMF / WEO and global reports (passage-based)
- Social welfare schemes
- Report-based – gender and SDG
Descriptive
- Sustainable development and environment
- Gender issues and reports (UNDP, UN Women)
- Monetary policy and its instruments
- World Development Report – welfare and migration
- Current affairs – digital and AI
- Startups and industrial corridors
Finance (Paper III)
Objective
- Capital markets and SEBI circulars
- Financial institutions (NaBFID, small finance banks)
- RBI functions and banking structure
- Accounting and ratio analysis (numericals)
- Corporate governance in banking
- Inflation – WPI, CPI, Phillips curve
- MSME and TReDS (rising in 2025)
Descriptive
- RBI functions (Retail Direct, supervision)
- Derivatives – types, participants, risks
- Financial markets – AT1 bonds, investing
- Digital and fintech – ONDC, UPI, AI risks
- Capital markets – SEBI steps
- Budget, and monetary vs fiscal policy
Management (Paper III)
Objective
- Evolution of management thought (Taylor, Fayol, systems)
- Ethics – theories, relativism, code
- Motivation – Maslow, McClelland, Vroom
- Communication – barriers, channels
- Leadership – Lewin, Fiedler, Blake-Mouton
- Personality – OCEAN (Big Five), Johari window
Descriptive
- Communication channels (15 marks)
- Leadership – trait vs behavioural (15 marks)
- Ethics – code of conduct, key factors
- Organisational change / OD – Lewin (2025 trend)
- Management thought – Fayol's 14 principles (15 marks)
- Big Five personality (15 marks)
Frequently asked questions
Are RBI Grade B previous year question papers released officially?
RBI does not publish its question papers. Previous year questions available for RBI Grade B, including ours, are memory-based: reconstructed from what candidates recall after the exam.
Which topics are asked most in RBI Grade B Phase 2 ESI?
In our 2023–2026 analysis, government schemes (especially agriculture, health and social welfare schemes), sustainable development and environment, and IMF and global reports were asked most often in ESI objective questions.
Which Finance topics are trending in RBI Grade B Phase 2?
Accounting and ratio numericals have grown each year (3 questions in 2025, 6 in 2026). In 2026, RBI liquidity management and stablecoins were also asked. Capital markets, SEBI and financial institutions were important in 2024 and 2025.
How should I use RBI Grade B previous year questions?
Use them to see which syllabus areas get asked and how deep the questions go, not as a limit on what to study. Cover the full syllabus, and give extra revision time to the topics that keep repeating.