What does the acronym FOMC stand for?

The acronym FOMC stands for Federal Open Market Committee.

The FOMC is the monetary-policy body within the Federal Reserve System. It is responsible for decisions about open-market operations, which affect the supply of reserve balances in the banking system and help steer the federal funds rate—the rate banks charge one another for overnight lending.

The committee has 12 voting members: the seven members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and four other Reserve Bank presidents serving on a rotating basis. All Reserve Bank presidents attend meetings and contribute to discussions, even when they are not voting members.

The FOMC usually holds eight regularly scheduled meetings each year, roughly every six weeks. It is often described as “setting interest rates,” but the committee directly sets the target range for the federal funds rate and uses policy tools to influence broader financial conditions. The Board of Governors separately handles the discount rate and reserve requirements.