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19 Interest PYQ (Solutions)

Master Interest for CAT 2026 with practice questions and detailed explanations

CAT 2025

Interest problems (Simple and Compound Interest) involve percentage growth calculations. These are less common but considered part of arithmetic. Often, interest is grouped with Profit/Loss.

  • CAT 2017–2019 occasionally included an interest question (usually testing compound interest formula application).
  • CAT 2020–2021 combined “Profit, Loss and Interest” contributed ~1–2 questions per slot.
    • For example, CAT 2020 had exactly 2 interest/P&L questions per slot.
    • In 2021, one slot had 2, others 1.
  • Typically, 1 question on interest appears in most years (sometimes none, sometimes two).

It’s not heavily featured but does show up as a straightforward application of percentage increase. Knowing simple vs compound interest calculations ensures you can tackle that one question when it comes.

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Weightage Over Past Years

YearQ.NODifficulty Level
20243Hard
20232Hard
20223Medium
20212Medium
20203Medium
20193Medium
20182Medium
20171Medium

CAT 2024 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

An amount of Rs 10000 is deposited in bank A for a certain number of years at a simple interest of 5% per annum. On maturity, the total amount received is deposited in bank B for another 5 years at a simple interest of 6% per annum. If the interests received from bank A and bank B are in the ratio 10 : 13, then the investment period, in years, in bank A is

4
3
6
5

Question 2

Slot-2

Anil invests Rs 22000 for 6 years in a scheme with 4% interest per annum, compounded half-yearly. Separately, Sunil invests a certain amount in the same scheme for 5 years, and then reinvests the entire amount he receives at the end of 5 years, for one year at 10% simple interest. If the amounts received by both at the end of 6 years are equal, then the initial investment, in rupees, made by Sunil is

20480
20808
20640
20860

Question 3

Slot-3

Aman invests Rs 4000 in a bank at a certain rate of interest, compounded annually. If the ratio of the value of the investment after 3 years to the value of the investment after 5 years is 25 : 36, then the minimum number of years required for the value of the investment to exceed Rs 20000 is

CAT 2023 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Anil invests Rs. 22000 for 6 years in a certain scheme with 4% interest per annum, compounded half-yearly. Sunil invests in the same scheme for 5 years, and then reinvests the entire amount received at the end of 5 years for one year at 10% simple interest. If the amounts received by both at the end of 6 years are same, then the initial investment made by Sunil, in rupees, is

Question 2

Slot-2

Anil borrows Rs 2 lakhs at an interest rate of 8% per annum, compounded half-yearly. He repays Rs 10320 at the end of the first year and closes the loan by paying the outstanding amount at the end of the third year. Then, the total interest, in rupees, paid over the three years is nearest to

45311
51311
33130
40991

CAT 2022 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Alex invested his savings in two parts. The simple interest earned on the first part at 15% per annum for 4 years is the same as the simple interest earned on the second part at 12% per annum for 3 years. Then, the percentage of his savings invested in the first part is

62.5%
37.5%
60%
40%

Question 2

Slot-2

Mr. Pinto invests one-fifth of his capital at 6%, one-third at 10% and the remaining at 1%, each rate being simple interest per annum. Then, the minimum number of years required for the cumulative interest income from these investments to equal or exceed his initial capital is

Question 3

Slot-3

Nitu has an initial capital of ₹20,000 . Out of this, she invests ₹8,000 at 5.5% in bank A,₹5,000 at 5.6% in bank B and the remaining amount at x% in bank C , each rate being simple interest per annum. Her combined annual interest income from these investments is equal to 5% of the initial capital. If she had invested her entire initial capital in bank C alone, then her annual interest income, in rupees, would have been

900
700
1000
800

CAT 2021 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Anil invests some money at a fixed rate of interest, compounded annually. If the interests accrued during the second and third year are ₹ 806.25 and ₹ 866.72, respectively, the interest accrued, in INR, during the fourth year is nearest to

931.72
926.84
929.48
934.65

Question 2

Slot-3

Bank A offers 6% interest rate per annum compounded half yearly. Bank B and Bank C offer simple interest but the annual interest rate offered by Bank C is twice that of Bank B. Raju invests a certain amount in Bank B for a certain period and Rupa invests ₹ 10,000 in Bank C for twice that period. The interest that would accrue to Raju during that period is equal to the interest that would have accrued had he invested the same amount in Bank A for one year. The interest accrued, in INR, to Rupa is

2436
3436
2346
1436

CAT 2020 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Veeru invested Rs 10000 at 5% simple annual interest, and exactly after two years, Joy invested Rs 8000 at 10% simple annual interest. How many years after Veeru’s investment, will their balances, i.e., principal plus accumulated interest, be equal?

Question 2

Slot-2

For the same principal amount, the compound interest for two years at 5% per annum exceeds the simple interest for three years at 3% per annum by Rs 1125. Then the principal amount in rupees is

Question 3

Slot-3

A person invested a certain amount of money at 10% annual interest, compounded half-yearly. After one and a half years, the interest and principal together became Rs 18522. The amount, in rupees, that the person had invested is

CAT 2019 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

A person invested a total amount of Rs 15 lakh. A part of it was invested in a fixed deposit earning 6% annual interest, and the remaining amount was invested in two other deposits in the ratio 2 : 1, earning annual interest at the rates of 4% and 3%, respectively. If the total annual interest income is Rs 76000 then the amount (in Rs lakh) invested in the fixed deposit was

Question 2

Slot-1

Amala, Bina, and Gouri invest money in the ratio 3 : 4 : 5 in fixed deposits having respective annual interest rates in the ratio 6 : 5 : 4. What is their total interest income (in Rs) after a year, if Bina's interest income exceeds Amala's by Rs 250?

7000
6000
6350
7250

Question 3

Slot-2

Amal invests Rs 12000 at 8% interest, compounded annually, and Rs 10000 at 6% interest, compounded semi-annually, both investments being for one year. Bimal invests his money at 7.5% simple interest for one year. If Amal and Bimal get the same amount of interest, then the amount, in Rupees, invested by Bimal is

CAT 2018 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

John borrowed Rs. 2,10,000 from a bank at an interest rate of 10% per annum, compounded annually. The loan was repaid in two equal instalments, the first after one year and the second after another year. The first instalment was interest of one year plus part of the principal amount, while the second was the rest of the principal amount plus due interest thereon. Then each instalment, in Rs., is:[TITA]

Question 2

Slot-2

Gopal borrows Rs. X from Ankit at 8% annual interest. He then adds Rs. Y of his own money and lends Rs. X+Y to Ishan at 10% annual interest. At the end of the year, after returning Ankit’s dues, the net interest retained by Gopal is the same as that accrued to Ankit. On the other hand, had Gopal lent Rs. X+2Y to Ishan at 10%, then the net interest retained by him would have increased by Rs. 150. If all interests are compounded annually, then find the value of X + Y. [TITA]

CAT 2017 Interest questions

Question 1

Slot-1

Ravi invests 50% of his monthly savings in fixed deposits. Thirty percent of the rest of his savings is invested in stocks and the rest goes into Ravi's savings bank account. If the total amount deposited by him in the bank (for savings account and fixed deposits) is Rs 59500, then Ravi's total monthly savings (in Rs) is: [TITA]

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