The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the monetary policymaking body of the Federal Reserve System, the central bank of the United States. The FOMC is responsible for setting monetary policy, including decisions about the target range for the federal funds rate, which is the interest rate at which depository institutions lend and borrow reserves overnight with each other.
The FOMC is composed of 12 members, consisting of the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board and five of the 12 Reserve Bank presidents. The chair of the Federal Reserve Board serves as the chair of the FOMC.
The FOMC meets several times per year to review economic and financial conditions and make decisions about monetary policy. At each meeting, the committee considers a variety of information, including data on economic growth, employment, inflation, and financial market developments, in order to assess the outlook for the economy and financial markets.
Based on its assessment of economic and financial conditions, the FOMC may decide to adjust its target range for the federal funds rate, or take other actions to influence monetary conditions, such as buying or selling government securities on the open market. The decisions made by the FOMC can have significant implications for financial markets and the economy as a whole.
