Answer:
Option (b) is correct.
Explanation:
Given that,
Reserve requirement ratio = 12 percent
Treasury securities purchased by Fed = $200 million
Open market operations is a monetary policy tool used by the Fed for controlling the money supply in an economy. There is a buying and selling of government securities. If Fed buys the government securities then this will increase the money supply and if Fed sells the government securities then this will decrease the money supply.
Here,
Money supply increases by about:
= Treasury securities purchased by Fed ÷ Reserve requirement ratio
= $200 million ÷ 0.12
= $1,666.667 million
or 1.67 billion