Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh has announced a change to the US central bank’s meeting schedule, with the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) planning to dedicate one of its eight meetings in 2027 exclusively to discussions on monetary policy strategy, without a vote on interest rates or an accompanying policy statement.
Warsh said the revised schedule would take effect next autumn, with the Fed maintaining eight meetings annually but placing greater emphasis on longer-term strategic discussions alongside its regular interest-rate decisions.
The change is expected to evolve further in 2028, when Warsh expects two meetings to be dedicated to strategy discussions and the remaining six to monetary policy decisions.
“We believe eight meetings per year is the right number for the FOMC,” Warsh said, explaining that the revised schedule would allow policymakers to balance their assessment of near-term economic developments with broader discussions on the direction of monetary policy.
He said that while regular meetings are necessary to assess incoming economic data, the central bank also needs time to examine major policy questions over longer horizons.