Key facts
- Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said the Fed will vote on rates seven times in 2027 and six in 2028.
- Warsh said one of eight annual meetings starting next fall will focus on broad monetary policy strategy, not a rate vote.
- Warsh said the change followed a robust discussion among committee members over multiple meetings.
- Warsh said it was not yet clear how information from the strategy meeting would be disseminated.
Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said on Wednesday the central bank will vote on interest rates seven times in 2027 and six in 2028, down from the eight annual meetings it has traditionally held. Warsh made the announcement following the release of the central bank's latest policy announcement, which left rates unchanged.
Starting next fall, one of the eight annual meetings will be dedicated to considering broad-based questions about the economy rather than voting on interest rates, Warsh said. That number will increase to two in 2028. He said the rationale was to devote more time to longer-term issues by shifting attention away from the immediate interest rate environment.
"Getting policy right involves assessing near-term developments at timely, regular and information-rich intervals," Warsh said. "But it's equally important we reserve time and space as an intellectually diverse group for strategic deliberations, for thinking anew about big questions, looking out over longer time horizons."
Warsh said the decision emerged from a "robust discussion" among committee members spread over multiple meetings. He said it was not yet clear how information discussed during the strategy meeting would be disseminated or when. Minutes are currently released three weeks after each FOMC meeting, with full transcripts coming out five years later.
Warsh began seriously discussing a reduction in rate-setting meetings in July, according to the FOMC's meeting minutes, arguing that a longer lag between rate-setting meetings would allow the committee to accumulate more data about the economy. The Federal Open Market Committee has held eight scheduled meetings a year since 1981.