What kind of economics or finance-related questions come up in IIM C interviews?

Question

Divakshi Arora · Accepted Answer

Even if you&rsquo;re not from a hardcore finance background, IIM C can throw in economics and finance questions &mdash; often tying them to current events or practical decisions.
Some real examples candidates shared: &bull; &ldquo;If the rupee depreciates against the dollar, who benefits and who loses?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;How would a hike in the repo rate affect housing loans?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;If you were advising a startup on raising funds, would you suggest equity or debt? Why?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;Explain quantitative easing and give one instance of its use globally.&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;What&rsquo;s the difference between primary and secondary markets?&rdquo; &bull; &ldquo;Here are a company&rsquo;s current ratio and debt-equity ratio &mdash; what do they tell you about its financial position?&rdquo;
One candidate was even shown a simplified balance sheet and asked, &ldquo;What does this tell you about the company&rsquo;s health?&rdquo; The panel doesn&rsquo;t always expect detailed calculations &mdash; clarity of explanation and ability to connect it to real examples matter more than textbook definitions.

B.K Sharma · Answer

Economics and finance questions in IIM Calcutta interviews are often a mix of theory and application. They want to see if you understand the concepts and can connect them to real-world scenarios.
Recent examples from economics include:

&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the difference between fiscal deficit and current account deficit?&rdquo; followed by &ldquo;How is India performing on both right now?&rdquo;
&ldquo;Explain elasticity of demand and give an example from the FMCG sector.&rdquo;
&ldquo;What factors contribute to inflation in India?&rdquo; with a follow-up linking it to RBI&rsquo;s monetary policy tools.
&ldquo;If India reduces import tariffs on crude oil, what impact could it have on the trade balance?&rdquo;

From finance, candidates have faced:

&ldquo;Explain the time value of money and its business applications.&rdquo;
&ldquo;What&rsquo;s the difference between NPV and IRR? Which one would you use in project selection?&rdquo;
&ldquo;How do interest rate changes impact bond prices?&rdquo;

Brushing up on undergrad basics plus current macroeconomic data can help a lot ,  they often jump between concepts and present-day numbers in the same question.