Suppose that the demand for federal funds curve is such that the quantity of funds demanded changes by $160 billion for each 1 percent change in the federal funds interest rate. Also, assume that the current federal funds rate is at the 3 percent rate that is targeted by the Fed. Now suppose that the Fed retargets the rate to 4.5 percent.
Instructions: Enter your answer as a positive value.
a. Assuming no change in demand, will the Fed need to increase or decrease the supply of federal funds?
b. By how much will the quantity of federal funds have to change for the equilibrium to occur at the new target rate?
by $ billion.