CA Foundation Business Economics: 100 MCQs, Editions and Marks

Business Economics is Paper 4 of the Chartered Accountancy (CA) Foundation exam. It carries 100 marks, is an objective paper of multiple-choice questions (MCQs), and loses 0.25 mark for every wrong answer, according to ICAI's FAQs on the New Scheme. Paper 3 is Quantitative Aptitude, so Economics is Paper 4.

ICAI's May 2026 Paper 4 suggested answers, which reprint the questions, are headed "Time: 2 Hours, Marks: 100" and hold 100 questions, all on Business Economics. The same FAQ page lists Paper 4 as "Business Economics (100 marks)". The older ICAI About the Foundation Course PDF still shows the 60 + 40 BCK split, but the current papers do not follow it.

To pass, you need at least 40% in each paper and at least 50% in aggregate at one sitting (ICAI FAQs). In Paper 4 that means 40 marks after negative marking is deducted.

As of November 2026, ICAI's announcement of 23 September 2026 puts the January 2027 Foundation exams on 3, 5, 7 and 9 January. Papers 3 and 4 run from 2 pm to 4 pm with no advance reading time. Our CA Foundation exam dates page tracks the full schedule.

Use the edition that ICAI labels for your exam. ICAI's Paper 4 page lists three editions: "Applicable for May/September 2025 & January 2026 Exams", "Applicable for May 2026 Exam Onwards" and "Relevant for May 2027 and Onwards Examination".

The two newer editions have the same ten chapter titles, but chapters 5 and 6 swap places:

The test takes ten seconds. Open your PDF and read the chapter 5 title. If it says "Business Cycles", you have the May 2026 edition. If it says "Determination of National Income", you have the May 2027 edition.

The January 2027 sitting falls after the May 2026 edition's start ("May 2026 Exam Onwards") and before the May 2027 edition's start ("May 2027 and Onwards"), so by those labels the May 2026 edition, with Business Cycles as chapter 5, is the one to use. This is our reading of ICAI's labels; confirm on ICAI's Paper 4 page before you print.

Also confirm which numbering your tutor or test series uses whenever it says "Chapter 5". Mixing editions mid-course is how revision gets mislabelled.

In the May 2026 paper, Price Determination in Different Markets and Determination of National Income each carried 15 of the 100 questions, and Business Cycles carried 5.

This count is ours. We read all 100 questions in ICAI's May 2026 Paper 4 suggested answers, which reprint the questions, and assigned each to a chapter of ICAI's May 2026 edition by its content.

Four questions (numbers 19, 30, 45 and 97) could reasonably sit in a neighbouring chapter, so treat each count as accurate to within one or two questions. This is also a single sitting. It shows where one paper put its marks. It does not promise the next paper will repeat them. As of November 2026, this count uses the May 2026 paper, which ICAI published with an answer key; the September 2026 Paper 4 is not part of it.

Two patterns stand out. Of the 100 questions, 22 need a calculation (numbers 4, 5, 19, 25 to 27, 36, 38, 39, 54, 56, 59 to 62, 64, 71, 73 to 75, 84 and 96). Public Finance and Indian Economy include questions that need a named fact no formula can produce, such as which Article of the Constitution covers a surcharge (question 32), what ECLGS (the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme) stands for (question 92) or what the e-NAM (electronic National Agriculture Market) portal is (question 46).

You should be able to do six calculations from memory in under 72 seconds each. That is the time available per question, since 120 minutes for 100 questions is 72 seconds. Each row below comes from the May 2026 paper, and we worked each answer from the formula. All six match ICAI's printed answer key.

A reader can run this as a pass or fail test. Close the book and solve each row cold in 72 seconds. A row passes once you get it right three times on different days. Anything that fails goes into tomorrow's first hour.

Speed on these frees up time for the recall questions. The harder choice is what to do when you are unsure of an answer.

Yes. At four options, every guess has a positive expected value (+0.0625 blind, +0.167 after removing one, +0.375 after removing two). Each right answer earns 1 mark and each wrong answer loses 0.25 (ICAI FAQs).

This is our model. It assumes four options and that the options you have left are equally likely to be right. The expected marks per question are the chance of being right × 1 minus the chance of being wrong × 0.25.

Over 10 questions, blind guessing expects about +0.6 marks, while guessing after removing two options expects +3.75. But 10 blind guesses can land anywhere from −2.5 (all wrong) to +10 (all right).

The penalty is small. A student who gets 50 right, 40 wrong and leaves 10 blank scores 50 − 10 = 40, exactly the 40-mark minimum for Paper 4 (you still need 50% in aggregate). A student who gets 80 right and 20 wrong scores 80 − 5 = 75.

Our recommendation: always answer when you can remove at least one option. Leave a question blank only if you would rather avoid the swing than gain about 0.06 marks. These numbers are only as good as your eliminations, so if your removals are often wrong, the true figures are lower.

Study by marks first and by interest second. This plan is our recommendation, built on the single May 2026 count:

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