RBI Grade B 2023 Previous Year Question Paper

1. After the Monetary Policy Committee's decision of 8 February 2023, at what level did the policy repo rate stand (unchanged at the April and June 2023 meetings)?

   1. 6.25%
   2. 6.50%
   3. 6.75%
   4. 5.90%
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B (6.50%)

   The February 2023 hike of 25 bps took the repo rate to 6.50%, completing a cumulative 250 bps of increases since May 2022. In April 2023 the MPC paused, the Governor calling it 'a pause, not a pivot'.

2. On 19 May 2023 the RBI announced the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 banknotes from circulation. Under which policy was this done?

   1. Currency Swap Policy
   2. Demonetisation Policy
   3. Note Refund Rules
   4. Clean Note Policy
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: D (Clean Note Policy)

   The withdrawal was made under the RBI's Clean Note Policy. The notes remained legal tender, and banks were asked to stop issuing them.

3. Under the 2023 withdrawal scheme, Rs 2,000 notes could be exchanged for other denominations at any bank up to what limit at a time?

   1. Rs 2,000
   2. Rs 10,000
   3. Rs 20,000
   4. Rs 50,000
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: C (Rs 20,000)

   From 23 May 2023, exchange was allowed up to Rs 20,000 at a time, free of cost; deposits into accounts had no such limit. The window ran up to 30 September 2023.

4. The Union Budget 2023-24 set the fiscal deficit target for 2023-24 at:

   1. 4.5% of GDP
   2. 5.1% of GDP
   3. 5.9% of GDP
   4. 6.4% of GDP
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: C (5.9% of GDP)

   The target for 2023-24 was 5.9% of GDP, with the 2022-23 revised estimate kept at 6.4%, and a path to below 4.5% by 2025-26.

5. The Union Budget 2023-24 raised the capital investment outlay by 33% to:

   1. Rs 7.5 lakh crore
   2. Rs 10 lakh crore
   3. Rs 11.1 lakh crore
   4. Rs 13.7 lakh crore
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B (Rs 10 lakh crore)

   Capital investment outlay was increased by 33% to Rs 10 lakh crore, about 3.3% of GDP. (Rs 13.7 lakh crore was the 'effective' capital expenditure including grants for capital assets.)

6. The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate announced in the Union Budget 2023-24 offers a fixed interest rate of:

   1. 7.0%
   2. 7.5%
   3. 8.0%
   4. 8.2%
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B (7.5%)

   The Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is a two-year small savings deposit for women, available until March 2025, paying 7.5% interest on deposits of up to Rs 2 lakh.

7. The merger of Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC Ltd) with HDFC Bank became effective on:

   1. 1 April 2023
   2. 1 July 2023
   3. 13 July 2023
   4. 1 October 2023
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: B (1 July 2023)

   The boards approved 1 July 2023 as the effective date. HDFC shareholders received 42 HDFC Bank shares for every 25 HDFC shares held on the record date of 13 July 2023.

8. In March 2023, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was named 'Governor of the Year' by which publication's annual awards?

   1. Central Banking
   2. Euromoney
   3. The Banker
   4. Global Finance
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: A (Central Banking)

   Das won 'Governor of the Year' in the Central Banking Awards 2023, the second RBI Governor to receive it after Raghuram Rajan in 2015.

9. The RBI's first pilot of the retail digital rupee (e₹-R) began on 1 December 2022 in which four cities?

   1. New Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad and Lucknow
   2. Bengaluru, Kochi, Indore and Gangtok
   3. Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad
   4. Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar
   Answer and explanation

   Answer: D (Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar)

   The retail pilot started in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar with SBI, ICICI Bank, YES Bank and IDFC First Bank. The wholesale pilot had begun on 1 November 2022.

Science and technology passage

Batteries for electric vehicles are usually judged by how far a car can travel on a single charge, but for grid storage the more important number is how many times a battery can be charged and discharged before it wears out. A home or a power company does not care much about weight; it cares about the cost of each unit of energy stored over the battery's whole life.

This difference has opened the door to chemistries that would be poor choices for cars. Some of the cells now being tested for grid use are heavy and store less energy for their size, yet they rely on cheap, abundant materials and survive thousands more cycles. Engineers sometimes describe the trade as giving up performance that nobody in that market was paying for.

The catch is that a battery's lifetime cannot be measured quickly. A cell designed to last twenty years must be tested in accelerated conditions, and investors must trust that those shortcuts predict real ageing.

10. According to the passage, what matters most when choosing a battery for grid storage?

    1. How quickly it can be manufactured
    2. The distance a car can travel on one charge
    3. The cost of stored energy over its life, which depends on how many cycles it survives
    4. Its weight
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: C (The cost of stored energy over its life, which depends on how many cycles it survives)

    The passage says the key number for grid storage is how many charge cycles a battery survives, and buyers care about cost per stored unit of energy over the whole life, not weight.

11. Why can battery chemistries that are poor choices for cars still suit the grid?

    1. Weight and size matter little there, while cheap materials and long cycle life matter a lot
    2. They store more energy per kilogram than car batteries
    3. Grid batteries never need charging
    4. Governments ban them in cars
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: A (Weight and size matter little there, while cheap materials and long cycle life matter a lot)

    Grid cells may be heavy and bulky but use cheap materials and last thousands more cycles; that is 'performance that nobody in that market was paying for'.

12. What is 'the catch' mentioned in the last paragraph?

    1. Engineers refuse to test grid batteries
    2. Grid batteries are too expensive
    3. The materials are scarce
    4. A long lifetime has to be inferred from accelerated tests that may not reflect real ageing
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: D (A long lifetime has to be inferred from accelerated tests that may not reflect real ageing)

    Lifetime cannot be measured quickly, so cells are tested in accelerated conditions and investors must trust that these predict real ageing.

13. Choose the correct option to fill the blank: Neither of the two proposals ______ acceptable to the committee.

    1. were being
    2. is
    3. are
    4. have been
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (is)

    'Neither of the two' is singular and takes a singular verb: 'Neither of the two proposals is acceptable'.

14. I. x² + x − 20 = 0 II. y² − 4y + 3 = 0. Find the relationship between x and y.

    1. x > y
    2. x < y
    3. x ≥ y
    4. x ≤ y
    5. Relationship cannot be established
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: E (Relationship cannot be established)

    x² + x − 20 = (x + 5)(x − 4), so x = 4 or −5. y² − 4y + 3 = (y − 1)(y − 3), so y = 1 or 3. x = 4 is greater than both values of y but x = −5 is smaller, so no relationship can be established.

15. Find the next term: 3, 4, 10, 33, 136, ?

    1. 544
    2. 680
    3. 685
    4. 690
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: C (685)

    Each term = previous × n + n with n = 1, 2, 3, ...: 3×1+1 = 4, 4×2+2 = 10, 10×3+3 = 33, 33×4+4 = 136, 136×5+5 = 685.

16. A and B together can finish a job in 12 days, B and C in 15 days, and A and C in 20 days. In how many days can A alone finish it?

    1. 24
    2. 30
    3. 36
    4. 40
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (30)

    2(A + B + C) = 1/12 + 1/15 + 1/20 = (5 + 4 + 3)/60 = 1/5, so A + B + C = 1/10 per day. A = 1/10 − (B + C) = 1/10 − 1/15 = 1/30. A alone takes 30 days.

17. A town's population of 50,000 rises by 10% in the first year, falls by 10% in the second and rises by 20% in the third. What is the population after three years?

    1. 54,000
    2. 59,400
    3. 60,000
    4. 66,000
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (59,400)

    50,000 × 1.1 × 0.9 × 1.2 = 59,400.

Parallel-row seating

Six persons sit in two parallel rows of three each, with equal gaps. J, K and L sit in Row 1 facing south; M, N and O sit in Row 2 facing north, so each person in one row faces exactly one person in the other.

N faces K. K does not sit in the middle of the row. M sits immediately to the right of N. J does not face O.

18. Who faces L?

    1. M
    2. N
    3. O
    4. J
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: C (O)

    Facing north, N's right is east. M is immediately right of N, so N is not at the east end; N faces K and K is not in the middle, so N and K are at the west end. Then M is in the middle of Row 2 and O at its east end. J does not face O, so J is in the middle of Row 1 (facing M) and L at the east end, facing O.

19. Who sits immediately to the left of J?

    1. K
    2. L
    3. M
    4. N
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (L)

    Row 1 faces south, so a Row 1 person's left is towards the east. From west to east Row 1 is K, J, L, so L is immediately to J's left.

20. Who sits at the extreme left end of Row 2?

    1. M
    2. N
    3. O
    4. K
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (N)

    Row 2 faces north, so its left end is the west end, where N sits.

21. Statements: No bond is a share. Some shares are funds. All funds are assets. Conclusions: I. Some assets are shares. II. Some funds are not bonds.

    1. Only I follows
    2. Only II follows
    3. Both I and II follow
    4. Neither I nor II follows
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: C (Both I and II follow)

    Some shares are funds and all funds are assets, so some shares are assets, i.e. some assets are shares (I). The funds that are shares cannot be bonds, so some funds are not bonds (II).

22. In a code, FUND is written as 4GC and CREDIT as 6DS. How is MARKET written in that code?

    1. 6NS
    2. 6LS
    3. 6NU
    4. 5NS
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: A (6NS)

    The code is: number of letters, then the letter after the first letter, then the letter before the last letter. FUND → 4, G, C; CREDIT → 6, D, S. MARKET → 6, N, S.

23. Among P, Q, R and S, each of a different height, who is the tallest? I. P is taller than both Q and R. II. S is shorter than R.

    1. Statement I alone is sufficient
    2. Statement II alone is sufficient
    3. Either statement alone is sufficient
    4. Both statements together are not sufficient
    5. Both statements together are necessary
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: E (Both statements together are necessary)

    I alone leaves S unplaced; II alone says nothing about P or Q. Together: P > R > S and P > Q, so P is the tallest. Both statements are needed.

24. Statements: W > X ≥ Y; Z ≤ Y < V. Conclusions: I. Z < X II. W > Z

    1. Only I is true
    2. Only II is true
    3. Both are true
    4. Neither is true
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: B (Only II is true)

    Z ≤ Y ≤ X allows Z = X, so Z < X is not certain (I false). W > X ≥ Y ≥ Z gives W > Z (II true).

25. The Lorenz curve is used to depict:

    1. Population growth over time
    2. The relationship between inflation and unemployment
    3. The distribution of income or wealth in a population
    4. The relation between tax rates and tax revenue
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: C (The distribution of income or wealth in a population)

    The Lorenz curve plots the cumulative share of income against the cumulative share of population; the Gini coefficient is derived from it.

26. In Herzberg's two-factor theory, salary and working conditions are classed as:

    1. Achievement factors
    2. Motivators
    3. Self-actualisation needs
    4. Hygiene factors
    Answer and explanation

    Answer: D (Hygiene factors)

    Herzberg called salary, working conditions, company policy and supervision hygiene factors: their absence causes dissatisfaction, but they do not by themselves motivate. Achievement, recognition and responsibility are motivators.