What is the year whose prices are used to calculate the real GDP called?

The correct answer is A, 1st April of a year to 31st March of the next upcoming year. In India the fiscal or financial year runs from 1 April to 31 March, so the year that starts on 1 April 2025 is written as 2025-26. The Union Budget, the government's accounts, income tax and company accounts all follow this period. India inherited this April to March cycle from British practice in 1867; before that the government year ran from May to April. The Union Budget is presented on 1 February so that the new year can start on 1 April with the money already approved. B is wrong because a year cannot be only nine months long. C is wrong because January to December is the calendar year, used by some countries but not for India's public finances. D is wrong because it describes a two-year span, which no fiscal year covers. Exam tip: fiscal year 1 April to 31 March; Budget on 1 February; the assessment year follows the financial year.

The correct answer is D, Reserve Bank of India. Monetary policy, the control of money supply and interest rates to keep prices stable, is the job of the central bank, the RBI, set up on 1 April 1935 under the RBI Act 1934 and nationalised on 1 January 1949. Since 2016 the policy repo rate is decided by the six-member Monetary Policy Committee, three from the RBI including the Governor, who chairs it, and three appointed by the Union Government, working to an inflation target set in 2016 at 4 per cent with a band of 2 per cent on either side. Option A is wrong because the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation compiles data such as GDP and the CPI, it does not set policy. Option B is wrong because the Finance Commission, under Article 280, recommends how taxes are shared between the Centre and the States. Option C is wrong because NITI Aayog, formed on 1 January 2015, is a policy think tank that replaced the Planning Commission. Exam tip: monetary policy = RBI and its MPC, fiscal policy = Finance Ministry through the Budget.

The correct answer is C, Economy budget. By the balance between estimated receipts and expenditure, a budget is of only three types. A balanced budget has receipts equal to expenditure. A surplus budget has receipts higher than expenditure, and a government may use it to cool an overheated, inflationary economy. A deficit budget has expenditure higher than receipts; it is the normal case in India and is used to push demand and growth, the gap being met by borrowing. 'Economy budget' is not a recognised type at all; it is a distractor. In India the budget is called the Annual Financial Statement under Article 112, is presented on 1 February since 2017, and the first budget of independent India was presented by R. K. Shanmukham Chetty on 26 November 1947. Option A is wrong because a deficit budget is a real type. Option B is wrong because a balanced budget is a real type. Option D is wrong because a surplus budget is a real type. Exam tip: three types by balance, balanced, surplus and deficit; India normally runs a deficit budget.

The correct answer is D, Hawkish. A hawkish stance means the central bank treats inflation as its first enemy and is ready to raise interest rates and tighten money supply, even at some cost to growth. Higher rates make loans dearer, so people and firms borrow and spend less, demand cools and prices stop rising so fast. India saw this when the RBI raised the repo rate from 4 per cent to 6.5 per cent between May 2022 and February 2023 to fight inflation. The opposite, a dovish stance, cuts rates to support growth and jobs, as in 2020 during the Covid slowdown. Option A is wrong because 'owlish' is only an informal label some writers use for a wait-and-watch, neutral position, not the usual anti-inflation stance. Option B is wrong because a dovish stance eases money and fuels inflation rather than fighting it. Option C is wrong because 'Hicksian' refers to the economist John Hicks and his IS-LM model, not to a policy stance. Exam tip: hawk = fight inflation, raise rates; dove = support growth, cut rates.

The correct answer is D, inflation. Inflation is a sustained rise in the general price level, measured in India by the CPI and the WPI. It is fought in three ways: monetary measures by the RBI such as raising the repo rate or CRR, fiscal measures such as higher taxes and lower government spending, and direct or administrative measures. Price control, rationing through the Public Distribution System and stock limits under the Essential Commodities Act 1955 are the direct measures: they cap what sellers may charge and how much each family may buy, so that scarce goods are shared and hoarding is checked. Option A is wrong because reflation is the deliberate effort to push prices and demand up after a slump, the opposite aim. Option B is wrong because disinflation is only a slowing of the inflation rate, not a problem that needs rationing. Option C is wrong because deflation is a fall in the general price level, when governments spend more rather than control prices. Exam tip: inflation = prices rise, deflation = prices fall, disinflation = prices rise more slowly, reflation = pushing prices up again.