what is monetary policy 
monetary policy is a set of tools a nation s central bank has available to promote economic growth by controlling the overall supply of money available to the nation s banks consumers and businesses the u s treasury department can create money but the federal reserve influences the supply in the economy through open market operations omo by buying financial securities when easing monetary policy and selling financial securities when tightening monetary policy the central bank may increase interest rates on borrowing to discourage spending or force down interest rates to inspire more borrowing and spending 