In response to the current global crisis the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world have implemented diverse policy measures including purchasing a wide range of securities lending to financial institutions intervening in foreign exchange markets and paying interest on reserves. Some central banks have also reduced monetary policy interest rates to minimum levels (reaching a lower bound) and have announced an explicit commitment to keep interest rates there for a prolonged period. This set of instruments contrasts with a conventional view—embedded in the predominant monetary policy models—in which a central bank controls only a short-term interest rate such as the Federal Funds rate.