RBI Grade B 2026
Current affairs for
RBI Grade B
in 20 minutes a day.
The Hindu takes 45 minutes and covers everything. Crux takes 20 minutes and covers what the RBI examiner actually tests — monetary policy, ESI, banking regulation, RBI circulars. Nothing else.
RBI Grade B 2026 — Exam Facts
Phase 1 Date
13 June 2026
Phase 2 Date
25 July 2026
Vacancies
60 Officers
GA Weightage
80 marks Phase 1
Phase 2 Papers
ESI · FM · English
CA Coverage
Last 6–8 months
19
days to
Phase 1 · June 13
Phase 1 · June 13
What gets asked
The topics that move your score.
Crux curates these specifically for RBI Grade B — not generic current affairs. Each topic is importance-weighted so high-frequency exam topics surface first.
Monetary Policy & MPC
Repo rate decisions, MPC voting patterns, inflation targeting, liquidity framework. Appears in every RBI Phase 1 and Phase 2 paper — 15–20% of GA marks.
Repo rate cut to 6.25% — April 2026 MPC decision
Inflation targeting framework — CPI vs WPI
Liquidity Adjustment Facility — SLF, MSF, OMO
RBI Circulars & Regulation
New RBI guidelines, banking regulation updates, NBFC norms, payment system circulars. Direct GA questions and Phase 2 FM essay material.
RBI's revised prompt corrective action framework
NBFC upper layer regulation — 2025 updates
UPI transaction limit revisions
Economic & Social Issues (ESI)
Growth, employment, poverty, agriculture, social sector — Phase 2 ESI paper. Current affairs must be linked to economic theory and policy impact.
GDP growth projections — RBI vs IMF forecasts
PM-KISAN, MGNREGA — recent disbursement data
Gig economy — employment and regulation
Government Schemes & Budget
Union Budget allocations, flagship scheme performance, fiscal deficit, capital expenditure. Bridges GA and ESI — appears in both papers.
Union Budget 2025-26 — key allocations
Fiscal consolidation — glide path targets
PLI scheme — sector performance data
Banking Sector Developments
NPA trends, credit growth, bank mergers, digital banking developments. Tests whether you track the sector the RBI regulates.
Gross NPA ratio — latest RBI report data
Credit growth — sector-wise breakdown
CBDC — retail digital rupee progress
International Finance & Reports
IMF WEO, World Bank reports, BIS, FATF — institutions and their India-relevant findings. Static-looking questions with current affairs answers.
IMF World Economic Outlook — India growth rank
FATF — India's latest mutual evaluation
BIS quarterly review — India mentions
Phase 1 · Prelims
General Awareness
June 13, 2026 · 80 marks · 80 questions
Current affairs — last 6–8 months
Banking & financial awareness
RBI functions and recent circulars
Government schemes and economic data
Static GK — capitals, HQs, indices
Phase 2 · Mains
ESI + FM + English
July 25, 2026 · Descriptive + Objective
ESI — economic and social issues, policy analysis
FM — finance, management, RBI functions
English — essay and comprehension
Current affairs linked to economic theory
15-mark descriptive essays on live topics
The problem with newspapers
Is The Hindu enough for
Is The Hindu enough for
RBI Grade B?
Short answer: it covers too much. For RBI specifically, the signal-to-noise ratio is the problem — not the quality of the content.
45 minutes of reading, 15 minutes of relevance
A typical Hindu edition has 24 pages. Roughly 4–5 articles per day are relevant to RBI Grade B. You spend 40 minutes filtering to find them.
No exam angle — just reporting
The Hindu tells you what happened. It doesn't tell you what the MPC voting pattern means for Phase 1 MCQs, or how the budget allocation links to ESI essay angles.
You read it, then forget it
No recall system. No importance weighting. No revision queue. Reading without a spaced repetition system means the same facts need re-reading 4–5 times.
Not designed around a 9-to-6 job
45 minutes of newspaper reading is a luxury most working professionals don't have on weekdays. A missed day creates backlog. Backlog creates guilt. Guilt breaks consistency.
How Crux solves this for RBI
01
AI filters for RBI relevance. Every topic is scored for exam importance before it reaches you. Only monetary policy, ESI, banking regulation, and RBI-relevant news makes it into your feed.
02
4-layer format — Read to exam-ready. Each topic goes from 80-word fact summary to full Phase 2 essay angle. You decide how deep to go based on your available time.
03
Spaced repetition built in. Every topic you read enters a revision queue. Importance-weighted intervals mean ●●● monetary policy topics resurface faster than lower-priority items.
04
20-minute window delivers 2 full topics. Set your commute or lunch break as a study window. Crux infers depth from duration — no daily decisions, no guilt for shorter sessions.
05
Paper-pattern questions after each topic. Post-confidence signal generates a Phase 1 MCQ or Phase 2 descriptive prompt for that specific topic. Crux tests you, not just informs you.
See it in action
A real RBI topic,
A real RBI topic,
in all 4 layers.
This is exactly what you get in the app — for every topic, every day. Tap the layers to explore.
RBI cuts repo rate by 25 bps to 6.25% — MPC unanimous
The Reserve Bank of India reduced its benchmark repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25% in its April 2026 MPC meeting — the second consecutive cut in this easing cycle. The decision was unanimous among all six MPC members. Governor Sanjay Malhotra cited moderating retail inflation at 3.4% in March 2026 and the need to support growth amid global uncertainty as the primary reasons for the cut.
When RBI cuts the repo rate, commercial banks can borrow from the central bank at a lower cost — which theoretically reduces lending rates across home loans, personal loans, and business credit. The April 2026 cut signals a deliberate shift from RBI's tight monetary stance of 2022–24 (when rates were hiked to combat post-pandemic inflation) toward a growth-supportive posture.
The unanimous 6-0 MPC vote is significant. A divided committee would signal policy uncertainty; a unanimous vote signals conviction — markets read this as a sustained easing cycle rather than a one-off adjustment. The cut also complements the Union Budget 2025-26's capital expenditure push: fiscal stimulus and monetary easing working together create stronger transmission than either alone.
The unanimous 6-0 MPC vote is significant. A divided committee would signal policy uncertainty; a unanimous vote signals conviction — markets read this as a sustained easing cycle rather than a one-off adjustment. The cut also complements the Union Budget 2025-26's capital expenditure push: fiscal stimulus and monetary easing working together create stronger transmission than either alone.
01
Repo rate cut to 6.25% — down 25 bps from 6.50%
02
Second consecutive cut — easing cycle started February 2026
03
Unanimous 6-0 MPC vote — Governor Sanjay Malhotra presiding
04
CPI inflation at 3.4% in March 2026 — below 4% RBI target
05
RBI GDP growth projection: 6.8% for FY 2026–27
06
SDF (Standing Deposit Facility) rate: 6.00% · MSF: 6.50%
RBI Grade B — Phase 1
MCQ tests specific numbers: repo rate value, bps cut, MPC vote count, inflation figure. Also tests the mechanism — what happens to SDF and MSF when repo rate changes. Negative marking: don't guess the exact figure.
"The RBI MPC in its April 2026 meeting reduced the repo rate by 25 bps. Which of the following correctly states the new repo rate and the nature of the MPC vote? (a) 6.00%, unanimous (b) 6.25%, 5-1 majority (c) 6.25%, unanimous (d) 6.50%, unanimous"
RBI Grade B — Phase 2 ESI / FM
15-mark essay: link to monetary transmission, credit growth, investment cycle. Examiner expects analysis — not just what happened, but whether rate cuts are actually transmitting to borrowers and why transmission remains weak structurally.
"Evaluate the effectiveness of RBI's monetary transmission mechanism in the current easing cycle. What structural barriers limit the pass-through of repo rate cuts to end borrowers, and what policy measures can address them?"
Your daily routine
How to cover RBI current affairs
How to cover RBI current affairs
in 20 minutes a day.
01
Set your study windows once
Name your commute, lunch break, or evening slot. Set the duration — 8 min, 20 min, or 40 min. Crux infers how many topics and which layers to deliver. No daily decision-making.
02
Tap the notification — start immediately
Crux sends a content-led notification with the top RBI topic headline. Tap to open directly into the topic. No app launch, no scrolling, no decision — you're studying within 10 seconds.
03
Read → Understand → Remember → Why
In a 20-minute window you get 2 topics, all 4 layers. The Why layer gives you the exact Phase 1 MCQ and Phase 2 essay angle for each topic. You're not just reading — you're preparing for the specific paper.
04
Mark your confidence — build your revision queue
Shaky → resurfaces tomorrow. Getting it → 3 days. Got it → 7 days. High-importance (●●●) topics resurface faster. Your revision queue builds automatically — no manual flashcard creation.
05
Revise in your evening session
The Revise tab surfaces due cards in smart order — Shaky first, then interleaved Getting it. A 40-minute deep session covers new topics and clears revision due. Nothing falls through the cracks before June 13.
RBI aspirants
What RBI Grade B aspirants say.
"I spent 45 minutes on The Hindu every morning and still wasn't sure what was relevant for RBI. Crux gives me exactly what I need in 15 minutes — structured for the exam, not for general reading."
"The Why it matters layer changed how I prepare for Phase 2. I now read every topic with the essay angle already in mind. That's the gap no monthly PDF or newspaper was filling."
"The revision queue is what makes the difference. I'd read topics and forget them in 3 days. Now the app brings them back at exactly the right time. My retention has completely changed."
FAQ
RBI Grade B current affairs — common questions.
Is The Hindu enough for RBI Grade B current affairs?↓
The Hindu covers everything — but most of it is irrelevant to RBI Grade B. The exam tests monetary policy, ESI, banking regulation, RBI circulars, and government schemes. A general newspaper reader gets 60–70% irrelevant content. You need exam-specific filtering, not more reading. The question isn't whether The Hindu is good — it is — it's whether it's optimised for the RBI examiner's lens. It isn't.
How many months of current affairs for RBI Grade B 2026?↓
RBI Grade B Phase 1 and Phase 2 typically test the last 6–8 months of current affairs. For 2026, this means November 2025 to June 2026 for Phase 1 (June 13), and through July 2026 for Phase 2 (July 25). Monetary policy decisions, RBI circulars, and major economic events from this window are highest priority.
What current affairs topics carry the most marks in RBI Phase 1?↓
Historically, monetary policy and MPC decisions account for 15–20% of GA marks in Phase 1. Banking sector developments, RBI circulars, government schemes, and international financial institutions (IMF, World Bank, BIS) together cover another 40–50%. Static GK — capitals, headquarters, indices — fills the rest. Crux weights topics by this distribution so your daily feed prioritises what moves your score.
How to prepare current affairs for RBI Phase 2 ESI?↓
Phase 2 ESI requires understanding current affairs at a conceptual level — not just fact recall. Each topic needs to be linked to economic theory, policy impact, and social implications. The examiner expects analysis, not narration. Crux's Why layer structures each topic for exactly this: it gives you the ESI essay angle, the examiner's expected argument, and a sample 15-mark question so you read every topic with Phase 2 in mind from day one.
Can I prepare RBI Grade B current affairs with only 20–30 minutes a day?↓
Yes — but only with structured, exam-specific content. 20 minutes of filtered, RBI-relevant current affairs daily beats 60 minutes of newspaper reading. The key is consistency and retention: reading without a spaced repetition system means you'll need to re-read the same topics 4–5 times. Crux solves both filtering and retention simultaneously — 20 minutes a day, every day, compounds faster than 60-minute sessions with no revision system.
Phase 1 is
June 13.
19 days. Start covering RBI current affairs today — structured, exam-specific, 20 minutes a day.
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RBI Grade B · Free to start
RBI Grade B · Free to start
Android · Free to start · RBI Grade B · Phase 1 June 13
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