RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) 2026: Syllabus, Exam Pattern & Dates
RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) (RBI Officer Grade B) is part of India's Government Exams category, covering 8 topics. Kamiyab's RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) mock test is being built from real past papers and is not live yet; until then, this page covers the syllabus, exam pattern and dates. Eligibility: Graduate · 60%+.
RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) mock is being built
We're working through the RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) previous-year papers to build a PYQ-grounded, expert-audited question bank. The syllabus, eligibility and exam pattern below stay accurate — the mock launches as soon as the bank clears audit. Live exams today: SSC CGL, SSC CHSL, and SSC MTS.
Topics covered
Topics are listed for reference. The mock launch unlocks once each topic's PYQ-grounded question bank is audited.
About RBI Grade B (Reserve Bank of India — Officers in Grade B, Direct Recruitment)
RBI Officers in Grade B (Direct Recruitment) is the entry-level management-cadre exam at the Reserve Bank of India — the central bank, regulator of banks and NBFCs, monetary authority, and policy researcher for the Indian financial system. Grade B Officers are inducted directly into the central bank as Managers, with future career progression to Grade C (AGM), Grade D (DGM), Chief General Manager, Principal Chief General Manager, Executive Director and Deputy Governor. The exam is widely considered the most demanding banking-sector officer recruitment in India because of its multi-paper Mains structure, PG-level subject depth in the DEPR and DSIM streams, and the high interview weight.
Three independent streams are notified together each year, with separate phase-wise patterns: (a) General (DR) — the largest stream, recruiting officers into RBI's operational and supervisory departments (DBR, DBS, DPSS, FMD, FED, IDMD, HRMD, FIDD, CDD); (b) DEPR — recruiting research officers into the Department of Economic and Policy Research, which produces RBI's economic-research output, monetary policy analytical inputs, the Annual Report, the Monetary Policy Report and academic papers; (c) DSIM — recruiting officers into the Department of Statistics and Information Management, which produces RBI's macroeconomic statistics, banking statistics, balance-of-payments compilation, financial-stability indicators and survey data. Each stream demands a distinct PG-level qualification: General is open to all-discipline graduates; DEPR requires a postgraduate degree in Economics or related fields; DSIM requires a postgraduate degree in Statistics, Mathematical Statistics, Mathematical Economics, Econometrics, Statistics & Informatics or Applied Statistics.
Selection follows a three-phase pattern for all three streams: Phase I (Preliminary Examination — qualifying, screening only) → Phase II (Mains — merit-deciding, three papers covering Economic & Social Issues, English descriptive, and stream-specific specialisation) → Interview (75 marks). Initial basic pay is Rs 78,450 in the revised Grade B scale of 78450-4050(9)-114900-EB-4050(2)-123000-4650(4)-141600, with DA, HRA, grade allowance, special allowance and other allowances taking the initial monthly gross (without HRA) to approximately Rs 1,54,936 in a Tier-I metro along with leased accommodation, dispensary support, medical reimbursement, RBI School/Education allowance, LFC, leave fare concession and a non-contributory pension benefit for older cohorts (Defined Benefit Pension Scheme continues for officers joining before 2012; NPS thereafter).
Conducted by: Reserve Bank of India Services Board, Mumbai. RBI Services Board conducts the Grade B exam directly across three streams: General (DR), DEPR (Department of Economic and Policy Research) and DSIM (Department of Statistics and Information Management).
Eligibility
- Grade B General (DR)Age: 21 to 30 years as on the notification reference date (1 April 2026 for the current cycle). Age relaxation: SC/ST +5 years (up to 35), OBC (non-creamy layer) +3 years (up to 33), PwBD (General/EWS) +10 years, PwBD (OBC) +13 years, PwBD (SC/ST) +15 years, Ex-Servicemen +3 years subject to service-based additional relaxation (typically up to 5 years total). EWS candidates receive NO age relaxation. Candidates with experience in RBI may avail an additional relaxation up to a specified ceiling.
- Grade B DEPR (Department of Economic and Policy Research)Age: 21 to 30 years as on the notification reference date (1 April 2026 for the current cycle). Age relaxation: SC/ST +5 years (up to 35), OBC (non-creamy layer) +3 years (up to 33), PwBD (General/EWS) +10 years, PwBD (OBC) +13 years, PwBD (SC/ST) +15 years, Ex-Servicemen +3 years subject to service-based relaxation. Additional age relaxation up to 33 years for candidates with PhD in Economics or related fields. EWS candidates receive NO age relaxation.
- Grade B DSIM (Department of Statistics and Information Management)Age: 21 to 30 years as on the notification reference date (1 April 2026 for the current cycle). Age relaxation: SC/ST +5 years (up to 35), OBC (non-creamy layer) +3 years (up to 33), PwBD (General/EWS) +10 years, PwBD (OBC) +13 years, PwBD (SC/ST) +15 years, Ex-Servicemen +3 years subject to service-based relaxation. Additional age relaxation up to 33 years for candidates with PhD in Statistics or related fields. EWS candidates receive NO age relaxation.
- Reading the eligibility conditions correctly — common to General, DEPR and DSIMAge: Age is computed on the reference date printed in the notification using the date of birth in your Class 10 certificate, and a candidate must be at least 21 on that date — a younger graduate has to wait for the next cycle. Relaxations are applied in the order the notification lists them and only up to the ceiling it states for each combination; the PwBD relaxation is added over the category relaxation, and the Ex-servicemen relaxation is service-linked, so the years of defence service are counted with the documents RBI specifies. A candidate who has already served in RBI can claim the experience-based relaxation only against RBI's own service records. EWS candidates carry no age relaxation and should not rely on the SC/ST/OBC bands they may see elsewhere.
Exam Pattern
Stage-by-stage breakdown of the recruitment process.
Phase I — Preliminary Examination (General DR only; DEPR and DSIM have a separate Phase I structure described below)
- Questions
- 200 multiple-choice questions
- Marks
- 200 marks total
- Duration
- 2 hours total (sectional timing strictly enforced)
Phase I — DEPR / DSIM (qualifying — different from General DR Phase I)
- Questions
- 100 multiple-choice questions per Phase I paper
- Marks
- 100 marks per Phase I paper
- Duration
- 2 hours per paper
Phase II — Main Examination (General DR — three papers, merit-deciding)
- Questions
- Mix of objective + descriptive across three papers
- Marks
- 300 marks total across the three Phase II papers (100 marks per paper)
- Duration
- 2 hours per paper (Papers I and III); 1 hour 30 minutes for Paper II
Phase II — Main Examination (DEPR — three papers, merit-deciding)
- Questions
- Mix of objective + descriptive across three papers + a qualifying English paper
- Marks
- 300 marks counted in merit (Paper I + Paper II + Paper III) + qualifying English
- Duration
- 2 hours for Paper I; 3 hours for each of Paper II and Paper III; 1.5 hours for English (qualifying)
Phase II — Main Examination (DSIM — three papers, merit-deciding)
- Questions
- Mix of objective + descriptive across three papers + a qualifying English paper
- Marks
- 300 marks counted in merit (Paper I + Paper II + Paper III) + qualifying English
- Duration
- 2 hours for Paper I; 3 hours for each of Paper II and Paper III; 1.5 hours for English (qualifying)
Interview (all three streams — 75 marks, merit-deciding)
- Questions
- Not applicable — structured interview
- Marks
- 75 marks
- Duration
- Approximately 25-45 minutes per candidate
Syllabus
6 sections, 56 topics in total.
- Phase I (General DR) — General Awareness, English, Quant, Reasoning4 topics
- Phase II Paper I — Economic and Social Issues (General DR)14 topics
- Phase II Paper II — English (Writing Skills, General DR)5 topics
- Phase II Paper III — Finance and Management (General DR)14 topics
- Phase II — DEPR Economics Stream (PG-level depth)8 topics
- Phase II — DSIM Statistics Stream (PG-level depth)11 topics
Preparation Strategy
Subject-wise strategy, a study plan and the books aspirants rely on for RBI Grade B (Reserve Bank of India — Officers in Grade B, Direct Recruitment).
Read the preparation guideRecent Changes to Know
- RBI revised the DEPR Phase II descriptive syllabus to add deeper coverage of monetary economics, international economics, and recent Indian economic developments — recent papers carried more questions on inflation targeting effectiveness, capital flow management, INR internationalisation and the monetary-fiscal interface.
- RBI revised the DSIM Phase II descriptive syllabus to add deeper coverage of multivariate analysis, time-series methods (including GARCH and stochastic volatility), and applied econometrics — recent papers carried more questions on stationarity tests, cointegration, dynamic models and modern financial-statistics techniques.
- Phase I General Awareness has shifted decisively toward RBI-specific items — RBI departments, recent MPC decisions, regulatory circulars, payment-system innovations, CBDC pilots, financial-stability assessment, regulatory sandbox outcomes. Generic GK now accounts for only 15-20 questions out of 80.
- Phase II Paper III (F&M) for General DR has added more weight to BASEL IV implementation, climate-risk stress testing, digital-lending guidelines (2022), FLDG guidelines (2023), DPDP Act 2023 implications for banking, and the RBI Co-Lending Framework.
- Interview weight (75 marks) and Phase II descriptive components together account for nearly 50% of the merit-determining content — confirming the long-standing characterisation of Grade B as a research-and-policy-aptitude exam rather than a speed-and-accuracy banking exam.
- Pre-Examination Training (PET) is offered free of cost by RBI to SC/ST/OBC/PwBD candidates ahead of Phase I — opting in is recommended for first-time aspirants.
Important Dates
- Notification
- RBI Grade B notification is typically released by RBI Services Board in May-June or July-August on rbi.org.in (Opportunities @ RBI section). The application window stays open for approximately 3-4 weeks. Application fee is paid online (typically Rs 850 General/EWS/OBC; Rs 100 intimation charges for SC/ST/PwBD/Ex-Servicemen).
- Exam
- Phase I (General DR): typically held in July-August. Phase I (DEPR/DSIM Paper I): typically held in August-September. Phase II (General DR — three papers): typically held in September-October across two-three consecutive days. Phase II (DEPR/DSIM — three papers + qualifying English): typically held in October-November across three-four days. Interview: typically January-March of the following year at RBI Mumbai or designated centres.
- Results
- Phase I result: approximately 3-4 weeks after Phase I. Phase II result: approximately 6-10 weeks after Phase II. Final result with stream-wise allocation: approximately 4-6 weeks after the interview round.
Dates shift across cycles depending on RBI's annual staffing needs and the Services Board calendar — DEPR and DSIM cycles often run slightly later than General DR. Always confirm against the official rbi.org.in Opportunities @ RBI page and the RBI Services Board candidate dashboard.
RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) preparation guides
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RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) 2026 — frequently asked questions
What is the RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) eligibility?
Minimum 60% aggregate (50% for SC/ST/PwBD) in Bachelor's degree from a recognised university, OR equivalent technical/professional qualification with minimum 60% (50% for SC/ST/PwBD), OR Master's degree with minimum 55% (50% for SC/ST/PwBD), OR Chartered Accountant / Cost Accountant / Company Secretary qualified with Bachelor's degree (any percentage), OR PG Diploma/Degree from IIM / equivalent (any percentage with Bachelor's degree). Age: 21 to 30 years as on the notification reference date (1 April 2026 for the current cycle). Age relaxation: SC/ST +5 years (up to 35), OBC (non-creamy layer) +3 years (up to 33), PwBD (General/EWS) +10 years, PwBD (OBC) +13 years, PwBD (SC/ST) +15 years, Ex-Servicemen +3 years subject to service-based additional relaxation (typically up to 5 years total). EWS candidates receive NO age relaxation. Candidates with experience in RBI may avail an additional relaxation up to a specified ceiling. Nationality: Citizen of India, or subject of Nepal or Bhutan, or Tibetan refugee who came to India before 1 January 1962 with intent to permanently settle, or person of Indian origin who has migrated from specified countries to permanently settle in India. Non-Indian citizens must produce an eligibility certificate from the Government of India..
What is the RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) exam pattern?
Phase I — Preliminary Examination (General DR only; DEPR and DSIM have a separate Phase I structure described below) covers General Awareness (80 Q, 80 marks, 25 min) · English Language (30 Q, 30 marks, 25 min) · Quantitative Aptitude (30 Q, 30 marks, 25 min) · Reasoning (60 Q, 60 marks, 45 min). 200 multiple-choice questions questions for 200 marks total marks, with negative marking of 0.25 marks deducted per wrong answer; no deduction for unattempted items.
Can I take a RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) mock test on Kamiyab?
Not yet. The RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) mock test is being built from real past papers. Until then, this page covers the RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) syllabus, exam pattern, eligibility and dates.
Which subjects and topics does RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) cover?
RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) covers 8 topics, including General Awareness, English Language, Quantitative Aptitude and more.
How much will the RBI Grade B Officer (General / DEPR / DSIM) mock test cost?
It will come with the Kamiyab plan, ₹99 a month, like every mock test on Kamiyab.