Question

To decrease the money supply, the Federal Reserve could a. decrease the required reserve ratio. b. conduct an open market purchase of U.S. Treasury securities. c. increase the discount rate. d. forbid the reselling of U.S. Treasury securities.

Answer 1

Answer: c. increase the discount rate.

Explanation:

The discount rate of a country is the rate at which the central bank in that country loans money out to the financial institutions.

When this rate is low, more financial institutions will borrow money as opposed to when it is high. Banks borrowing money increases the money supply in the economy so if the Federal Reserve wants to reduce money supply, it should increase the discount rate which would dissuade banks from borrowing from the Fed thereby limiting money supply.