Good books can be an indispensable asset for the RBI Grade-B Officer exam preparation. Most candidates often face a lot of difficulties while zeroing in on the best RBI Grade-B books. This article has compiled a list of the most sought after RBI Grade-B books that will help in carrying out the preparation for RBI Grade B exam.
Let’s go through all the books that you can follow for each particular section of every phase of the RBI Grade-B Officer Exam.
RBI Grade B Exam Pattern
The RBI Grade-B notification for 2020 is yet to be released, but the RBI exam pattern is expected to be the same as it was in 2019. The recruitment of RBI Grade-B officers takes place in the following stages:
- Phase-I online Examination (Objective type)
- Phase-II online examination
- Interview
To know more about other Government Exams conducted every year, visit the linked article.
The exam pattern for both the Phase I and Phase II is discussed in brief below:
RBI Grade-B Exam Pattern – Phase – I:
As per the RBI exam pattern, the RBI Grade B Phase-I exam consists of four sections in total. A detailed breakdown of the exam pattern is given below:
| RBI Grade – B Exam Pattern | ||
| Subject | No. Of Questions | Marks |
| General Awareness | 80 | 80 |
| Quantitative Aptitude | 30 | 30 |
| English Language | 30 | 30 |
| Reasoning | 60 | 60 |
| Total | 200 | 200 |
*Note: There is negative marking in this phase of the exam, 0.25 marks of the total marks will be deducted for each wrong answer. There will be no negative marking if the question is not attempted.
To know more about RBI Exams conducted every year visit the linked article.
RBI Grade-B Exam Pattern – Phase – II:
After qualifying the first stage of the exam, the candidates will have to appear for the Phase-II. The questions asked in this phase will be both Objective and Subjective in nature. All questions except those asked in the English Language section can be viewed in both English and Hindi. The detailed breakdown of Phase- II of the exam pattern is given below:
| RBI Grade – B Phase-II Exam Pattern | |||
| Name of the Paper | Type of the Paper | Duration(in minutes) | Marks |
| Paper-I Economic & Social Issues | Objective Type | 90 | 100 |
| Paper-II English (Writing Skills) | Descriptive (to be typed with the help of keyboard) | 90 | 100 |
| Paper III Finance & Management | Objective Type | 90 | 100 |
*Note: While no marks will be deducted for a question that is not attempted, there will be a deduction of 0.25 marks for each wrong answer that is given by the candidate.
To know more about the RBI Grade B Syllabus, visit the linked article.
RBI Grade-B Books for Phase-1
The book list for each subjects is given below
- Logical Reasoning
- Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning by R.S. Aggarwal
- Analytical Reasoning by M.K. Pandey
2. English Language
- Word Power Made Simple by Norman Lewis
- Objective General English by S.P. Bakshi
- High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin
3. Quantitative Aptitude
- Magical Book on Quicker Maths by M. Tyra
- How to Prepare for Quantitative Aptitude for CAT written by Arun Sharma
- Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations written by R.S. Agarwal
4. Banking Awareness
- Banking Awareness by Arihant Experts
- Banking Awareness for SBI and IBPS Bank Clerk/PO/RBI Exams/RRB by Disha Experts
According to the notification released by the RBI, the following material will be the best to cover the entire RBI syllabus for the Phase-II examination.
Candidates can check free Online Quiz for comprehensive preparation and revision of the RBI Grade B exam.
RBI Grade B Books for Phase 2
The book list for RBI Grade B books for the phase 2 exam is given below:
1. Economic and Social Issues
Books:
- Indian Economy: Uma Kapila (Series of Books)
- Indian Economy: Mishra Puri. (Latest Edition)
- Growth And Development: Devraj Ray
Sociology: C.N. Shankar Rao
Other Prep Material
Magazines/Bulletins:
- Economic and Political Weekly
- Southern Economist
- Yojana
- Business India
- RBI Bulletins
Newspapers:
- Economic Times
- Hindu
- Business Standard
Reports:
- World Development Report
- Economic Survey of India
2. Finance Management
The RBI has suggested some prep material specifically for topics related to finance:
- An introduction to Economics – A W Stonier and DC Hauge
- Monetary Theory and Public Policy – Kenneth Kurihara
- Indian Economy – Mishra and Puri
- Indian Economy – R. Dutt and KPM Sundaram
- Economic Growth and Development – Mayer and Baldwin
- Major economic newspapers and Economic and Political Weekly
- Public Finance – K K Andley and Sundaram
- Financial Management – Prasanna Chandra
3. English (Writing Skills)
RBI has not suggested any books to prepare for this section as it will only test the candidates writing skills. The writing skills can only be improved over time by reading vivaciously. Aspirants should read articles in newspapers and magazines that talk about the latest happenings in the world of finance and banking.
To understand the exam pattern, important topics of the syllabus and the scope and difficulty level of the exam candidates can check the RBI Grade B Previous Year Papers.
RBI Grade B Syllabus 2019 :-Download PDF Here
Related Links:
For more RBI-related information you can visit the links given in the table below:
| RBI Assistant | RBI Grade-B Syllabus | RBI Grade-B Exam date |
| RBI Exam Pattern | RBI Assistant Syllabus | RBI Grade-B Exam Eligibility Criteria |
RBI Grade B Preparation
Preparation is the first step towards cracking the RBI Grade B examination. Without a sound preparations, strategy candidates will have little idea on the format of the exam. Candidates can practice the RBI Grade B Mock test for better preparation of the topics.
The preparation strategy for each subject is discussed in detail below:
RBI Grade B Preparation | English Language
The English language section is one of the easiest sections where candidates can easily score the highest number of marks possible. Questions from these sections are usually asked from comprehension, errors, para jumbles, antonyms, and synonyms. Thoroughly brushing up on the newspaper, thesaurus, a dictionary will help the candidates in the long run.
RBI Grade B Preparation | Reasoning Ability
In RBI Grade B Phase 1 this section will consist of 60 questions so it becomes very important to practice and attempt this section very carefully. Reasoning questions can be tricky and require a lot of practice to score well. This section mostly consists of Puzzles and sitting arrangements. The puzzles can be Circular Arrangement, Linear arrangement, floor-based puzzle, a tabular puzzle with two or three or even four variables, puzzles combined with blood relation or Direction sense, Square/Rectangle sitting arrangement.
RBI Grade B Preparation | Quantitative Aptitude
This section comprises questions on Arithmetic, Data Interpretation and Simplification. Candidates should learn shortcuts to solve questions from this, as most of the questions are from data interpretation(DI). Other topics from which you can get a good number of questions are Number series, Simplification & Approximation and Quadratic Equation/Inequality. This section will consist of 30 questions.
RBI Grade B Preparation | General Awareness
Aspirants who are up to date about facts & news of everyday aspects have a higher chance of scoring more in this section. Candidates need to go through at least previous 6 months current affairs notes/capsules available on banking examination related websites and should read newspapers, magazines to sharpen their skills in General Awareness. It is comparatively easier than other sections. Questions are asked from International Summits, Governmental Schemes and Initiatives, Sports Tournaments, Books and Authors, International Organisations, Monetary and Fiscal Policies etc. Candidates preparing for RBI Grade B Officer 2020 exam are advised to check the Static GK page for the preparation of the General Awareness section of the exam.
The approaches provided in the books mentioned above will be of great help in optimizing your performance. The shortcuts for the quant section can substantially reduce the time taken to solve questions. This saved time can be used to solve more challenging questions. Use the RBI Grade B previous year question paper to improve upon your shortcomings and for achieving top scores in this exam.