RBI Grade-B Officer 2015-16 , Phase-I & II

My interview experience (though it is very late to post)

It happened on Feb 23 in Delhi.

I was little nervous as I entered the room as I was not really prepared. First Sardarji made a comment about my age as I was just 22. I just smiled. Then he asked me about the situation in JNU then (Myself doing M.A Economics final year from JNU). I said it was kind of calm.

   Then they began firing questions related to economics. First Sardarji asked what is Marx's theory of value. I could answer that. Then asked how it is different from Lenin's theory of value. I didn't know the answer (Even after searching many times through books and internet, I am not still sure whether Lenin had a theory of value as such).

    The next question was  'how far the Modi Govt is going ahead with the slogan "Minimum Government, Maximum Governance". I began my answer by telling about disinvestment programmes. Sardarji corrected me by saying that disinvestment is not what the govt means by the slogan. I got the point and said about the Make in India programme and doing away with License Raj. Then Sardarji asked whether National Green Tribunal is against the motto of Minimum Government. I said about the recent spate of speedy forest clearances. Sardarji intervened by saying that forest clearance is done by MoEF and not NGT. Then I said like NGT as an establishment is quintessential for sustainable devt.

The next question was related to fiscal deficit target controversy. I was quite confident as I had read about the issue and began my answer saying that 'Raghuram Rajan opined that'. There Sardarji again intervened and said that he wanted my opinion and not Raghuram Rajan's! I smiled and said that little bit dithering from fiscal deficit target is fine as the economy needs stimulus at the current juncture. Then Sardarji asked me 'which is more dangerous - fiscal deficit or revenue derficit?' I said revenue deficit is more dangerous. Then he asked me, is it fine if revenue deficit is zero and fiscal deficit is very high like 10 or 20%. To this I said, it is not fine and it should be ideally not more than 3 or 4%. He asked me why is it so? To this I replied, it is safe for the economy and it is agreed worldwide and even European Union sticks to this target. Then Sardarji asked me, why should we agree to the worldwide practice to which I simply smiled.

   The next question was related to deflation. It was posed by one of the group members. I gave the definition of deflation when I was asked. The next question was, why deflation a problem? I gave the answer like, deflation will lead to depression. The next question was what is liquidity trap, which I answer satisfactorily. The member wanted to know the names of the countries facing deflation problem. I said Brazil and Eurozone. Brazil was actually experiencing inflation problem and Sardarji told me that. They then wanted to know the ways to counter deflation. I replied saying negative interest rate policy (recently adopted by Japan) and Quantitative Easing. Then he wanted to know what Quantitative Easing is. I said it is Govt selling bonds to open market (it is really govt buying bonds from open market). It was a blunder and they pointed it out.

  I was from English Literature background in undergrad. The lady member wanted to know why my career paths were so divergent (from science at +2, English Literature for B.A and Economics for M.A). I gave a satisfactory answer. Then she wanted to know what all I studied under literature and how do I analyze poet John Keats. I gave an okayish answer for both questions.

   Sardarji told me to leave (which was quite a heartbreak for me as I didnt answer a single question properly). I thanked all of them and made my way out (I was all drenched in sweat. What bothers me was that I was not at all confident during the session, partly due to the inability to prepare owing to the turmoil in JNU at that time



How many marks are u expecting in ESI ?

  • 80+
  • <50
  • 50-55
  • 55-60
  • 60-65
  • 65-70
  • 70-75
  • 75-80

0 voters

Hi guys....need some genuine advice...I have appeared in this year's RBI grade 'B' interview and I also appeared last time as well. Usually I get good marks in written and have reached till interviews in all the exams that I have appeared so far. But the Interviews are the worst part for me. Even thou I have prepared well for interviews at times, I always end up scoring very bad marks in them. I know there might be some problem in proper communication but still I am totally unsure about how to improve on this thing. Since many of us are done with our interviews, please give some advice...I really have no hope that I would clear this time around too..

How is normalisation done in optional subjects? Is it like ki if highest mark in eco is 50 and in finance is 80, both will be treated equal and rest of the marks scaled accordingly. Any ideas?

I am new to this thread.. Someone just tell me what extra things one needs to prepare to become an RBI grade B officer as compared to ibps /sbi po. I am novice to this post.

How does NABARD Grade B fare with RBI Grade B? NABARD Grade B has so few seats, and the prep is different from RBI, is it worth the effort?

Is there any major difference between 32nd and 33rd edition of Mishra and puri Is this the book to refer for financial management http://www.amazon.in/gp/aw/d/9339222571/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1459319225&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX118_SY170_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=financial+management+by+prasanna+chandra

Hi All those who have taken phase 2 mocks.. please suggest a good mock test series..

Hi friends I m also preparing for RBI grade b .I m non economic background student.plz advise which optional sub.should I choose? Which is more scoring? F&M or Economics.plz reply.

Expected Marks in FM?

  • <50
  • 50-55
  • 55-60
  • 60-65
  • 75+
  • 70-75
  • 65-70

0 voters

Guys what is ur expected score in economics optional. Don't consider any normalisation. 

  • 30-40
  • 40-50
  • Above 60
  • Below 30
  • 50-60

0 voters

Is Uma kapila book available for download?

Interview Experience. Date Feb 26. Chandigarh. IT and Insurance Industry bg.

First things first, Sardarji(S) was not cordial. He kept on interrupting( with confusing questions 😛 ) even when I was answering the other board members.

S: Starts with a query on a crowdsourced song that my band had composed for an IT major. Tells me to explain what and how it all went down. Then, he asked me if I knew what crowdfunding was. I gave him a gist and a few examples of Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Then he asked whether RBI should play any role in regulation of such platforms to which I said yes, to which he posited that shouldn't this be a domain of SEBI (investing and stuff) and if not , under which function of RBI would you place such regulation. Realizing my blunder( but unwilling to accept it) I replied that not regulation per se, but under financial awareness/literacy the RBI could bla bla bla.. .Then he asked me questions on Music/Percussions(Hobby) . Why drums, why not tabla? Name a percussion instrument of South India. I replied Mridangam(He said no(still don't know why). Lady Member said Ghatam and everybody agreed.) The question on why tabla has two drums and why dhol only one. Then questions on taal and its english counterpart (rhythm). Some mention of Sivamani .

M1: Starts bashing insurance concepts. What is credit insurance? Who does it in your "fraternity" ? I answer the first part and blanked out with the second. Sardarji prompted and asked what is the difference between credit insurance and bank guarantee. Could not answer. Then questions on insurable and non insurable risks. Answered. How value of a person is calculated in life insurance. Answered.

M2: Enunciate functions of RBI. Answered. He picks up the point of Monetary Policy Formulation and shifts to Urjit Patel Commitee Recommendations/Flexible inflation targeting/CPI/WPI. Answered most of it. Sardarji interrupted and asked how can monetary policy control prices of essential commodities (viz dal atta chawal) to which i gave a generic money supply control answer. He said what about supply side factors and if supply side factors are dominant in determining essential commodities' price then why govt fixing inflation control responsibility on RBI. Gave an unsatisfactory reply.

M3(Lady): 1st Attempt? Why not appeared earlier? (Age 24). Told her that a guy in my office cleared grade b last year and hence appeared this year. She asked the most difficult question of the lot. "Tell me everything you know about RBI". Told her most of the things I had read( and answered earlier to the other board members), but left out quite a few points.

M4: Back to insurance. He asked me about TPAs in Insurance Industry, how they were eating into "our" profits and why not have our own team to settle mediclaims. Answered all. Don't know/care if he was satisfied. Just wanted to run out of the room.

Sardarji said goodbye. I said " Phew..." and walked out sweating like a pig.

What books to refer for quant, DI and reasoning considering I took CAT 2011, 2012 and 2013 and my percentile in quant section is 95-97%? Your reply is highly appreciable.

Hi guys! Do we have to do both Dutt &Sundaram and Uma Kapila for Paper 1 Phase II? Also can we find sociology by C N Shankar Rao online?

Interview Experience (Questions Only): 15th Feb, Pune

My educational background is Environmental Management

When did Environment Protection Act came into place, what was it's need, how many times it has been amended...??

Why there is global warming and alarming rate of deterioration of forests even though there are various authorities to look after these things...??

Common man is directly touched by which of the activities done by RBI...??...If no, then is there even a need of RBI from common man's perspective..??

Which of the existing policies of RBI you think should be changed/modified...??

What do you understand by the term inclusive banking..??

What is you hobby...??

Thank You....

( I am not able to recollect at least two-three questions.....

.... by the way, when I was trying to answer each of these questions there were many cross ( relevant/ irrelevant) questions asked by the panel...

... I am not able to judge quality of answers given during interview that is why not posting answers here...these questions though, might be relevant for people preparing for coming attempt/s...(including me???)...thank you for reading....All the Best)

What is the weightage of interview marks is it 50/350 or some other percentage?

Next 3-4 days ke timepass ka jugaad toh chlo ho gya ab.. Courtesy: interview experiences. 😃

kuch toh fayda hua phle na share karne ka.. 😛 😁

Hi. Those who claim to have insider information from RBI, could you please check if RBI intends to change the eligibility pattern as NABARD did with its grade b exam?

My interview experience 

Entered and said" good morning mam and sirs "

Sardarjee: a very good morning, please have a seat.

Sardarjee said Your hobbies are jogging and yoga..(.no questions asked on this)

Sardarjee: u have appeared for this exam earlier also, I said yes. He then asked, till which stage u appeared...I said I had taken interview twice earlier prior to this one...Sardarjee said...uuummmm....

Sardarjee: whats your view on new pattern..

Me: firstly, in previous pattern u must attempt 5 questions of 20 markers and if u dont you are out of game whereas in new pattern if you have no idea of couple of questions u r still in d game. 

Secondly,previous pattern checks your understanding of only 5 topics I.e depth of 5 topics whereas new pattern check depth and breadth of numerous topics...

Sardarjee interrupted: so you like depth and breadth...

Me.. Yes sir and apart from this new pattern had saved cost and time...

Sardarjee: whose time?? Yours or ours..

Me: sir both's time...

To this one member said " thanks for appreciting this"

Sardarjee: u donot love your organisation??? State bank of patiala...

Me: sir, definitely I love my organisation... 

Sardarjee: thn why Rbi???

Me: better salary, growth opportunities,  will get to work in different departments,  respect of central banker, blah blah.... Ghisa pita reply... And I think none of the members were impressed.... 

Sardarjee: and here you will also get a chance to chalao danda on your bank... 

Me: smiled...

Sardarjee: yes or no??? 

Me: still smiling ☺☺

Sardarjee: u have done internship at malt company India limited, what is this malt.

Me: sir, its raw material for 🍻 beer...

Sardarjee: what is malt whisky??  Whats malt made of???etc

Answered these too...

Done with Sardarjee 

M1: why suddenly so much Npa??

I said " sir because Rbi has changed provisiong norms for restructured accounts and more provisiong eats up profit...

M1 said " why Rbi asks bank for provisiong "

I said "to safeguard interests of customers so that banks be in a better position to pay its liabilities to others"

Sardarjee: is provisioning part of some reserves... 

I said" yes sir, banks have to maintain seperate provisioning reserves "

Sardarjee: what are the other reserves. 

I said " general reserves, capital reserves, statutory reserves, reserves for foreign exposure, provisioning reserves, 

Sardarjee: are they part of tier 1 or tier 2 capital 

I said statutory reserves and general reserves capital rrserves are part of tier 1 capital while foreign exposure and provisioning reserves are part of tier 2 capital... 

Sardarjee: no, they all are part of tier 1 capital... 

Me: right sir...☺

M1 again: what are components of capital.. 

I said " shareholders capital, prefernce shares, subordinate debt...

M1: what are other sources of NPA apart from restructured accounts... 

Me: willful defaulters, big ticket infrastructure loans as many are stalled, coroprate loans.

Done with M1 

M2: "you work in state bank of patiala and it is a subsidiary of sbi, Right??!

Me: no sir, it is a associate bank of sbi... 

And didn't ask any other question on this...

The M2 said" why your bank is not listed on stockexchange??? "

Me: " sir,  shares of associate banks are not listed as they are controlled by sbi and sbi is listed..." ( tukka) 

M2: no, shares of other associate banks are listed "

Me: sorry sir,  im not sure about this...

M2: how many associate banks are thr? 

Me: 5

M2: what is SDR?  

Me: special drawing rights... 

M2: no.....SDR, CDR for restructuring... 

Me: sir, SDR no idea,  CDR is corporate debt restructuring... 

M2: what you do in restructuring... 

Me: we give increased moratarium,  interest waivers, advice on operations and management.

M2: is thr difference between NPAs and stressed assets??  Or we use these terms interchangeably?? 

Me: NPAs are those which have gone into default for 3 months and are not servicing interest whereas sttessed assets are those which have a probability of becoming Npa and are showing signs of same.

M2: all assets have probability of becoming NPA... Think again... 

Me: contemplating and then said " sorry sir, im not recollecting it"

M3,madam: im more interested in your language skills... 

( i have done MBA in international business and have read French for 2 semesters in 2010,  so language known waale column mey French bhi chipka diya)

Madam asked something in french... 

Me: 😰😰😰...thinking... Kat gaya saale aur likh French.... 

Then said " actually I have done French in 2010 during my MBA and right now I cant speak it but I can read and understand "

Madam: then why have u written it in your biodata 

Me: bcoz I know French and if in future my job demands knowledge of French then I Ll be in a better posiotion to grasp it as compared to others... 

Sardarjee to madam: he has only quoted it...even I have read French and Spanish during my days.... 

Madam then asked few questions about my job profile... 

I answered satisfactorily. 

M4: " inflation, rupee depreciating,  fiscal deficit problem,cad bop issues all these are to be managed by Rbi?

Me: yes sir.

M4: but Rbi is failing to do so, do you think Rbi is a failed organization?

Me:surprised and contemplating what to say....2seconds. 

M4: OK....let me correct myself.... Do you think Rbi is a partially failed organization... 

Madam: oh....its a total failed organization.... And all members bursted with laughter 

Me: still thinking what to say....2-3 more seconds....

Sardar jee: thanks, you  can leave....