CA Foundation Jan 2027 Economics mock test: formula sheet
A CA Foundation Jan 2027 Economics mock test should be scored the way ICAI's Paper 4 is built: 100 MCQs in a fixed chapter split, with 15 to 22 short numericals and the rest one-line recall in the study material's own words. The numericals in ICAI's January, May and September 2026 papers all came from about twenty formulas, listed below with the paper each was used in. Learn that sheet, learn the study material's figures as it states them, and you have the two parts of the paper that most students leave to chance.
Paper 4, Business Economics, is 100 questions of one mark in 2 hours, with no reading time and a quarter mark taken off for each wrong answer. The January 2027 Foundation papers fall on 3, 5, 7 and 9 January (ICAI's schedule, PDF (opens in a new tab)), and CA Foundation exam pattern and marking compares the four papers' rules.
CA Foundation Economics chapter wise weightage and what came every time
ICAI used the same chapter split in all three 2026 papers, by our question-by-question count. The right-hand column lists the topics asked in all three.
| Chapter | Questions | Asked in all three 2026 papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Nature and scope | 5 | Economic systems; micro versus macro |
| 2. Demand and supply | 10 | Price elasticity numerical; cross elasticity; indifference curve properties |
| 3. Production and cost | 10 | Cost table; factors of production; stages of the law of variable proportions; cost concepts |
| 4. Price determination | 15 | MR, AR and elasticity; market forms; oligopoly; AR versus ATC |
| 5. Business cycles | 5 | Leading, lagging and coincident indicators; features of each phase |
| 6. National income | 15 | Equilibrium income; multiplier; national income aggregates (GVA, NDP, NNP); national income methods |
| 7. Public finance | 10 | Deficit numericals; fiscal federalism; fiscal policy instruments |
| 8. Money market | 10 | Inflation target; Baumol's inventory approach; credit or money multiplier |
| 9. International trade | 10 | Tariff types; non-tariff measures; real and nominal exchange rate; FDI types |
| 10. Indian economy | 10 | Government schemes; the 1991 crisis and reforms |
You can check every count: ICAI reprints the January and May questions in its January 2026 suggested answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab) and May 2026 suggested answers (PDF) (opens in a new tab), and September's is the Paper 4 question paper (PDF) (opens in a new tab). The tagging is our own reading. Counts for Accounts, Law and Maths sit in the CA Foundation Jan 2027 chapter wise weightage.
Price determination and national income are 30 marks together. National income is the most numerical chapter; price determination mixes a few MR and AR numericals with market-form theory. Business cycles and nature and scope are only 5 each, but they are pure recall, so they are the quickest marks to secure.
CA Foundation Economics numericals: the formula sheet
ICAI set 15 numericals in January, 22 in May and 20 in September 2026, by our count. Every one used a formula from this sheet:
| Formula | Chapter | Jan 26 | May 26 | Sep 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price elasticity = %ΔQ ÷ %ΔP (and new quantity from it) | 2 | Q4 | Q4, Q54 | Q2, Q61 |
| Arc elasticity = (ΔQ/ΔP) × (P₁ + P₂)/(Q₁ + Q₂) | 2 | – | Q56 | – |
| Cross elasticity = %ΔQx ÷ %ΔPy | 2 | – | Q5 | Q60 |
| AFC, AVC, ATC, MC from a cost table | 3 | Q57–58 | Q59–61 | Q10–11 |
| MR = ΔTR/ΔQ | 4 | Q15 | Q62 | – |
| MR = AR × (e − 1)/e | 4 | Q63 | Q64 | – |
| GVA, NDP, intermediate consumption | 6 | Q22 | – | Q77–78 |
| Market price ↔ factor cost via net indirect taxes, subsidies | 6 | Q26–27 | Q71, Q74 | – |
| Real GDP and GDP deflator | 6 | Q25 | Q73 | – |
| Multiplier k = ΔY/ΔI = 1/(1 − MPC) | 6 | – | Q25 | Q28 |
| Foreign trade multiplier = 1/(1 − MPC + MPM) | 6 | Q75 | – | – |
| MPC, APS | 6 | – | Q26–27 | Q81 |
| Equilibrium income: S = I, or Y = C + I | 6 | Q73 | Q75 | Q84 |
| Revenue, fiscal, budgetary, primary deficit | 7 | Q83–84 | Q84 | Q85, Q86, Q88 |
| Credit multiplier = 1/required reserve ratio | 8 | Q38 | Q36 | – |
| Money multiplier; currency with the public; M1, M3, M4 | 8 | – | Q38–39 | Q49–51 |
| Extra reserves from a CRR change | 8 | – | – | Q52 |
| Fisher's MV = PT | 8 | – | – | Q35 |
| Price for normal or supernormal profit = (total cost + normal return on capital) ÷ output | 4 | – | Q19 | – |
| Marginal utility = TUₙ − TUₙ₋₁ | 2 | – | – | Q58 |
| Real exchange rate = nominal × domestic price ÷ foreign price | 9 | Q42 | Q96 | – |
| Ad valorem tariff on a value | 9 | – | – | Q48 |
Five types came in all three papers: price elasticity, a cost table, equilibrium income from a saving or consumption function, a budget deficit, and a national income aggregate. Each needs one formula and one or two steps.
Worked example 1: three deficits from one data set
ICAI likes a small budget table followed by two or three questions on it. Data (ours, ₹ crore): revenue receipts 1,500; revenue expenditure 1,800; capital expenditure 700; non-debt capital receipts 100; interest payments 250.
- Revenue deficit = revenue expenditure − revenue receipts = 1,800 − 1,500 = 300.
- Fiscal deficit = total expenditure − (revenue receipts + non-debt capital receipts) = 2,500 − 1,600 = 900.
- Primary deficit = fiscal deficit − interest payments = 900 − 250 = 650.
The trap options: 1,150 (interest added instead of taken away) and 1,000 (non-debt capital receipts forgotten in the fiscal deficit).
Worked example 2: equilibrium income and the multiplier
Data (ours): C = 50 + 0.8Y and investment is 150. At equilibrium Y = C + I, so Y = 50 + 0.8Y + 150, which gives 0.2Y = 200 and Y = 1,000. The multiplier is 1/(1 − 0.8) = 5, so a rise of 20 in investment raises income by 100. The trap is 1.25, which is 1/MPC.
Study material figures ICAI asks as written
For January 2027, Paper 4 uses the August 2024 study material (Reprint August 2025 onwards), with no RTP added for it (ICAI notice, PDF (opens in a new tab)). Its data run to about 2022-23, and the questions use its figures, not later ones from the news. Ones that ICAI has already asked:
| Figure | As the study material gives it |
|---|---|
| States' share of central taxes, 15th Finance Commission (2021-26) | 41% |
| Inflation target under the Monetary Policy Framework Agreement | 4% CPI, with 2% and 6% as the band (2016-21) |
| Crops with a minimum support price | 23 mandated crops |
| Make in India 2.0 | 27 sectors: 15 manufacturing, 12 services |
| Production-Linked Incentive scheme | from March 2020, 14 key sectors |
| Eight core industries | coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, electricity |
| Largest recipient of FDI inflows | the services sector |
Read the study material itself for these; a later figure from a newspaper can match a wrong option. The study material is on our CA Foundation study material page.
Question formats in ICAI's 2026 Economics papers
| Format | Jan 26 | May 26 | Sep 26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Numericals | 15 | 22 | 20 |
| "NOT" or "EXCEPT" questions | 18 | 17 | 9 |
| Match the following | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Statement-based (I to IV, or Statement 1 and 2) | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Assertion and reason | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Data sets with 2 or 3 questions | 3 | 2 | 4 |
Counts are ours. Two lessons: the "NOT" question is the most common trap, so circle the word before reading the options; and match-the-following jumped in September, so practise pairing four items at once, where one wrong pair spoils the whole answer. The question types ICAI set in all three 2026 papers, the ideas it repeated and three numericals worked step by step are in CA Foundation economics important questions for Jan 2027.
How to attempt the CA Foundation Economics paper in 2 hours
Because about eight questions in ten are theory, the order matters more than the speed.
- First 55 minutes: recall only. Answer every theory question you know at sight. Put a small "N" against each numerical and a "?" against any theory you're unsure of.
- Next 45 minutes: the "N" questions. With the formula sheet in your head, most take under a minute. Do data sets together, since they share one table.
- Last 20 minutes: the "?" questions, then a check that every "NOT" or "EXCEPT" answer is the odd one out and every letter sits against the right number.
On guessing: with the quarter-mark penalty, a blind guess is close to break-even (about +0.06 of a mark on average), and once you can rule out one option a guess clearly pays; the arithmetic is in how to pass CA Foundation Jan 2027.
How our CA Foundation Jan 2027 Economics mock tests follow this split
Our CA Foundation Business Economics mock tests give you three complete Paper 4s: 100 one-mark MCQs in 120 minutes with the same quarter-mark penalty, and questions that 15+ qualified CA faculty set fresh for this attempt. Each follows ICAI's chapter split, with numericals like those above alongside the theory, and more weight on what ICAI asks most. Across the three, every chapter comes up.
Mark your options on paper as you would in the hall, upload the scan as one PDF, and the checked copy is back within 24 hours with the reasoning for all four options of every MCQ. The first Economics mock has preview pages you can read first, and our CA Foundation Jan 2027 mock test plan says which week to write each.
Frequently asked questions
How many numericals come in CA Foundation Economics?
Between 15 and 22 in ICAI's 2026 papers (15 in January, 22 in May, 20 in September), by our count. Almost all are one formula and one or two steps.
Which chapters carry the most marks in CA Foundation Economics?
Price determination in different markets and determination of national income, 15 questions each in every 2026 paper. Six chapters carry 10 each, and nature and scope and business cycles 5 each.
Is CA Foundation Economics only theory?
No. About a fifth of the paper is numericals, and they are the marks you can check yourself: once the formula is right, the working tells you whether your option is right.
Should I learn current data for CA Foundation Economics?
No. Use the study material's figures. Questions are set on its data, which run to about 2022-23, so a newer number can lead you to a wrong option.
What is the passing mark in CA Foundation Economics?
40 out of 100 in the paper, with 200 out of 400 across all four papers in the same attempt, as for every Foundation paper.
Your next step
Write ICAI's September 2026 Paper 4 in two hours, then go through every numerical against the formula sheet above and every recall miss against the study material. After that, give the last weeks to timed CA mock tests: our CA Foundation test series has all four papers, and the CA test series home page has every level. Sister guides: the CA Foundation Accounts mock test, the Maths mock test and the Law mock test.