Federal Reserve System is an independent agency of the United States government that helps oversee the nation's banking system. The Federal Reserve System, sometimes called the Fed or the FRS, is known as the central bank of the United States. Its most important job is to assist the U.S. government in managing the economy by encouraging economic growth and controlling inflation. It pursues these goals by influencing interest rates and, thus, the availability of money and loans. The program the Fed follows in influencing interest rates is called its monetary policy. The Fed also performs many financial services for the federal government and provides numerous services to commercial banks.