Definition of Federal Funds Rate



Federal funds rate is a rate at which a bank can lend the excess of minimum deposit and other obligatory payment requirements, to other needy banks that are facing a shortfall. This process is done overnight.

 


To estimate the amount of reserves that a bank must maintain to meet the customer needs, the last two weeks averaged reserve requirements are used as a benchmark, and excess can be lent to a bank that has a shortfall of cash.

 


The federal fund rate is set by the federal open market committee that gives a rate for guidance purposes. However, the real rate paid by borrowing bank is negotiated between two banks.  


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