18. Open Market Operations and the Money Multiplier Suppose that the reserve requirement for checking deposits is 10 percent and that banks do not hold any excess reserves. If the Fed sells $1 million of government bonds, the economy’s reserves increase by $100 million, and the money supply will increase by $9 million. Now suppose the Fed lowers the reserve requirement to 5 percent, but banks choose to hold another 5 percent of deposits as excess reserves. This will the money multiplier, and it will the money supply.