accommodative monetary policy

Accommodative monetary policy

Federal Reserve System policy to increase the amount of money available to banks for lending. See: Monetary policy.

Cheap Money

A monetary policy in which a central bank sets low interest rates so that credit is easily attainable. This makes borrowing easy for business, which stimulates investment and expansion of operations. The immediate result of cheap money is a boost in stock prices; in the medium term, cheap money promotes economic growth. However, if cheap money remains in the economy for too long, it can lead to a situation in which there is a glut of currency or too many dollars chasing too few goods and services leading to inflation. For this reason, most central banks alternate between policies of cheap money and tight money in varying degrees to encourage growth while keeping inflation under control.

accommodative monetary policy

The Federal Reserve policy of increasing the supply of money to make credit more readily available. An accommodative monetary policy tends to lower interest rates, especially the short-term ones, at the time credit is made plentiful. Such a policy is likely to result eventually in increased inflation and interest rates. Compare monetary policy.