The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)

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When the interest rates were at or near zero percent and could not be lowered any more, the Fed had begun experiments with unconventional monetary policy tools to kickstart economic growth and boost demand. A few examples of unconventional monetary policies include forward guidance, quantitative easing, credit easing etc.
Since the great recession, the Federal open market committee (FOMC) has used forward guidance as one of its main tools to help interest rates remain low and improve credit availability. Forward guidance consists of promises/ verbal assurances made by the central bank to the public about its future actions and intended monetary policies. For example, in the late 2013 and early 2014, the FOMC said that it would continue to