Tools of The Federal Reserve: Discount Rates and Reserve Requirements

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Discount Rate
The Federal Reserve uses two other types of tools besides the open market operations (OMO), and they are the discount rates and reserve requirements. The FOMC is responsible for the OMO and the discount rate and reserve requirements are taken care by the Federal Reserve System’s Board of Governors. The three fundamental tools can influenced the demand and supply of and the balances that depository institution hold which can result in the change in federal funds rate.
In 1913, the Federal Reserve System was enacted, it has three primary objectives; eradicating the “pyramiding” of reserves in New York City and substitute it with a polycentric system of twelve reserve banks, which will help the banks with a more seasonal elastic supply of credit and minimize the tendency for banking panics (Calomiris, 1993). The discount rate that is set by the Federal Reserve System is used for interest rates charged to the commercial banks and other banks for overnight loans (discount window) borrowed from the Federal Reserve (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2013). By discounting the loan rate, the banks would have lower liquidity problems because banks are able to borrow at a lower rate, which then reduces the pressure in the reserve markets and keeping the financial markets constant. To help the depository institutions, primary credit, the Federal Reserve Bank developed three rates of discount window, namely primary credit, secondary credit and seasonal credit.
Firstly, the primary credit program allows depository institution with solid financial condition to extend its loans for a very short period of time such as overnight loans. Primary credit rates are lower because the depository institutions are firm, meani...

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..., restrictive monetary policy is used to slow the GDP growth rate and reduce the inflation rate. All in all, both monetary policies are used and to alter inflation and GDP growth rate and then to support economic activity.
The other two tools that can be used by the Federal Reserve apart from the Open Market Operation are the discount rate and reserve requirements. The three tools mentioned can change the federal funds rate. The discount rate is used to help the depository institution with its liquidity problems and there are three discount rates that the banks can use depending on their requirements, they are primary credit, secondary credit and seasonal credit. In addition, reserve ratio has help banks with stability and financial stress by having depository institutions to reserve amount of funds in the form of vault cash or deposit in the Federal Reserve Banks.

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