FOMC

Federal Open Market Committee is the branch of the Federal Reserve Board which oversees the country's open market operations (i.e., the Fed's buying and selling of United States Treasury securities).

It is the Committee making key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the United States money supply.

The FOMC consists of the board of governors, which has seven members, and five reserve bank presidents. The president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York serves continuously, while the presidents of the other reserve banks rotate their service of one-year terms.

The Committee meets eight times per year to set key interest rates, such as the discount rate, and to decide whether to increase or decrease the money supply, which the Fed does by buying and selling government securities.