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RBI GK Questions 2026

The static part of RBI exams is mostly economics and finance. The Grade B advertisement lists the syllabus of Paper-I, Economic and Social Issues: growth and development, national income, poverty and employment, sustainable development, the Indian economy since the reforms of 1991, money and financial markets, the role of banks and the Reserve Bank, public finance, agriculture, industry and services, the balance of payments, the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO, and India's social structure. Paper-III, General Finance and Management, adds the functions of the RBI, the banking system, SIDBI, EXIM Bank, NABARD, NHB and NaBFID, financial markets, financial inclusion, the Union Budget and inflation. These topics also feed the General Awareness tests of Grade B Phase-I and the Assistant Main, alongside static facts such as the heads and headquarters of institutions. This page holds GK24's topic-wise GK notes for RBI exams, written as short facts and tables so that a topic can be revised in one sitting, in English and Hindi. Read a topic, then solve its quiz and previous-year questions on this site to check what you retained. For the descriptive part of ESI, turn each note into a one-page answer outline.

RBI GK Questions with Answers

Q221.Banking & Financial AwarenessAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2016, GS Paper IMedium

What is/are the purpose/purposes of the 'Marginal Cost of Funds based Lending Rate (MCLR)' announced by RBI?

1. These guidelines help improve the transparency in the methodology followed by banks for determining the interest rates on advances.

2. These guidelines help ensure availability of bank credit at interest rates which are fair to the borrowers as well as the banks.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

  1. A.1 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.Both 1 and 2
  4. D.Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Both 1 and 2

The RBI brought in MCLR to make banks' loan pricing more transparent and to give borrowers rates that are fair to both sides.

Q222.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2020, GS Paper IMedium

If the RBI decides to adopt an expansionist monetary policy, which of the following would it not do?

1. Cut and optimize the Statutory Liquidity Ratio

2. Increase the Marginal Standing Facility Rate

3. Cut the Bank Rate and Repo Rate

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A.1 and 2 only
  2. B.2 only
  3. C.1 and 3 only
  4. D.1, 2 and 3
Show answer
Correct answer: B. 2 only

An expansionist policy aims to make money cheaper and more plentiful, so the RBI would not raise the Marginal Standing Facility rate, which makes borrowing dearer.

Q223.Banking & Financial AwarenessAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2024, GS Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements in respect of the digital rupee:

1. It is a sovereign currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in alignment with its monetary policy.

2. It appears as a liability on the RBI's balance sheet.

3. It is insured against inflation by its very design.

4. It is freely convertible against commercial bank money and cash.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

  1. A.1 and 2 only
  2. B.1 and 3 only
  3. C.2 and 4 only
  4. D.1, 2 and 4
Show answer
Correct answer: D. 1, 2 and 4

The digital rupee is RBI-issued sovereign money, sits as a liability of the RBI like notes do, and can be exchanged one-to-one for cash and bank deposits.

Q224.Indian EconomyAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2020, GS Paper IEasy

With reference to Foreign Direct Investment in India, which one of the following is considered its major characteristic?

  1. A.It is the investment through capital instruments essentially in a listed company.
  2. B.It is a largely non-debt creating capital flow.
  3. C.It is the investment which involves debt-servicing.
  4. D.It is the investment made by foreign institutional investors in the Government securities.
Show answer
Correct answer: B. It is a largely non-debt creating capital flow.

FDI comes in as equity ownership, so India does not have to repay it with interest. Under Indian rules, FDI is investment by a person resident outside India in an unlisted company, or in ten per cent or more of the paid-up equity of a listed company.

Q225.Banking & Financial AwarenessAsked in: UPSC Civil Services · CSE Prelims 2024, GS Paper IMedium

Consider the following statements:

Statement-I: Syndicated lending spreads the risk of borrower default across multiple lenders.

Statement-II: The syndicated loan can be a fixed amount/lump sum of funds, but cannot be a credit line.

Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?

  1. A.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct and Statement-II explains Statement-I
  2. B.Both Statement-I and Statement-II are correct, but Statement-II does not explain Statement-I
  3. C.Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect
  4. D.Statement-I is incorrect, but Statement-II is correct
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Statement-I is correct, but Statement-II is incorrect

A syndicate shares the default risk, and a syndicated facility can be either a term loan or a credit line.

Q226.Banking & FinanceHard

Which Union Budget speech said the Government would consider reducing its stake in IDBI Bank to below 50 per cent?

  1. A.Union Budget 2016-17
  2. B.Union Budget 2021-22
  3. C.Union Budget 2003
  4. D.Union Budget 2014-15
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Union Budget 2016-17

In paragraph 93 of that speech the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said public sector banks had to be strong and competitive, that the Bank Board Bureau would be made operational in that year, that a roadmap for consolidating public sector banks would be spelt out, that the transformation of…

Q228.Banking & FinanceMedium

Which court decided All India IDBI Officers' Association versus Union of India and Others, dismissing the challenge to dilution of the Government's stake?

  1. A.Supreme Court of India
  2. B.Delhi High Court
  3. C.Bombay High Court
  4. D.National Company Law Tribunal
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Delhi High Court

According to the clarification, the association of IDBI officers took the shareholding question to the Delhi High Court, which decided the case on 17 December 2018 and dismissed the writ petition.

Q229.Banking & FinanceEasy

During the parliamentary debate on which law was an amendment moved to restrict dilution of the Government's shareholding in IDBI?

  1. A.IDBI (Repeal) Act, 2003
  2. B.Banking Regulation Act, 1949
  3. C.State Bank of India Act, 1955
  4. D.Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
Show answer
Correct answer: A. IDBI (Repeal) Act, 2003

The Finance Ministry's clarification records that while the Union Budget of 2003 was being discussed and Parliament was debating this repeal legislation, an amendment was moved that sought to limit any reduction of the Government's holding in IDBI.

Q230.Indian EconomyHard

The indifference curve for two goods that are perfect substitutes for each other is:

  1. A.A straight line sloping downward
  2. B.L-shaped
  3. C.Convex to the origin
  4. D.A vertical straight line
Show answer
Correct answer: A. A straight line sloping downward

If two goods are perfect substitutes, such as two brands of identical salt, the consumer is willing to exchange them at a fixed rate whatever quantity he already holds, so the marginal rate of substitution is constant and a constant slope means a straight line.

Q231.Indian EconomyHard

The law of equi-marginal utility is also known as the:

  1. A.Law of demand
  2. B.Law of substitution
  3. C.Law of supply
  4. D.Law of diminishing returns
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Law of substitution

The law of equi-marginal utility, called Gossen's second law and also the law of maximum satisfaction, says that a consumer distributes his income among goods so that the last rupee spent on each gives him the same marginal utility; he reaches that position by substituting the good with the higher…

Q232.Indian EconomyMedium

The ordinal utility approach to the theory of consumer behaviour was developed by:

  1. A.Adam Smith and David Ricardo
  2. B.J. R. Hicks and R. G. D. Allen
  3. C.Alfred Marshall and A. C. Pigou
  4. D.J. M. Keynes and Joan Robinson
Show answer
Correct answer: B. J. R. Hicks and R. G. D. Allen

In their joint work of 1934, and later in Hicks's Value and Capital, they replaced the measurement of utility with the ranking of preferences and rebuilt the theory of demand on indifference curves, the marginal rate of substitution and the budget line.

Q233.Indian EconomyMedium

In the indifference curve approach, a consumer is in equilibrium when:

  1. A.The marginal rate of substitution equals the ratio of the prices
  2. B.The marginal utility of the good is zero
  3. C.The budget line cuts the indifference curve at two points
  4. D.Total utility is equal for both goods
Show answer
Correct answer: A. The marginal rate of substitution equals the ratio of the prices

Equilibrium is the point at which the budget line is tangent to the highest indifference curve the consumer can reach, and at a point of tangency the slopes of the two are equal, which means MRS of X for Y equals Px divided by Py; a second condition is that…

Q234.Indian EconomyMedium

The slope of the budget line of a consumer buying two goods X and Y is given by:

  1. A.Price of X ÷ price of Y
  2. B.Price of Y ÷ price of X
  3. C.Income ÷ price of X
  4. D.MU of X ÷ MU of Y
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Price of X ÷ price of Y

The budget line is the equation Px·X + Py·Y = M, which on rearranging gives Y = M ÷ Py minus (Px ÷ Py)·X, so the intercept is income divided by the price of Y and the slope is the ratio of the price of the good on the horizontal…

Q235.Indian EconomyMedium

Which of the following is NOT a property of an indifference curve?

  1. A.It slopes downward from left to right
  2. B.It is convex to the origin
  3. C.Two indifference curves can intersect each other
  4. D.A higher indifference curve shows a higher level of satisfaction
Show answer
Correct answer: C. Two indifference curves can intersect each other

If two curves crossed, the combination at the crossing point would belong to both and would therefore give two different levels of satisfaction at the same time, a logical contradiction; for the same reason they cannot even be tangent.

Q236.Indian EconomyMedium

An indifference curve is convex to the origin because of:

  1. A.Increasing marginal rate of substitution
  2. B.Diminishing marginal rate of substitution
  3. C.Constant marginal rate of substitution
  4. D.Diminishing returns to scale
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Diminishing marginal rate of substitution

As a consumer moves down an indifference curve he holds more and more of the first good and less of the second, so each extra unit of the first is worth fewer units of the second to him; the slope therefore becomes flatter from left to right and the curve…

Q237.Indian EconomyMedium

The slope of an indifference curve at any point is called the:

  1. A.Marginal rate of substitution
  2. B.Price ratio
  3. C.Marginal propensity to consume
  4. D.Elasticity of substitution
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Marginal rate of substitution

The marginal rate of substitution of X for Y is the number of units of Y a consumer is willing to give up to get one more unit of X while remaining on the same indifference curve, and it equals the ratio of the marginal utility of X to the…

Q238.Indian EconomyEasy

Total utility is maximum when marginal utility is:

  1. A.Maximum
  2. B.Zero
  3. C.Negative
  4. D.Equal to average utility
Show answer
Correct answer: B. Zero

Marginal utility is the addition made to total utility by one more unit, so as long as it is positive total utility keeps rising; the moment it becomes zero nothing more is being added and total utility stands at its highest point, called the point of satiety.

Q239.Indian EconomyEasy

The cardinal utility approach to consumer behaviour, which measures utility in units called utils, is associated with:

  1. A.Alfred Marshall
  2. B.J. R. Hicks
  3. C.Paul Samuelson
  4. D.Vilfredo Pareto
Show answer
Correct answer: A. Alfred Marshall

Marshall, in his Principles of Economics, built the theory of demand on the assumption that utility is measurable in imaginary units, so that a consumer can compare the ten utils of a cup of tea with the six utils of a samosa; from this assumption he derived the law of…