Five monetary policy meetings per year

The Executive Board has decided to hold five ordinary meetings per year, at which monetary policy is decided, instead of six. This will apply with effect from 2020. The Executive Board has also taken a decision on the meeting calendar for the full year 2020.

The number of monetary policy meetings has varied over the years. The Riksbank held 20 ordinary monetary policy meetings in 1999, but there have been six meetings a year since 2008. At the same time, the material used for making decisions and the information communicated in conjunction with the meetings have become more thorough and more uniform. There are other central banks that have more interest rate-setting meetings, but the Riksbank is relatively alone in publishing as many as five Monetary Policy Reports and an equal number of complete forecasts per year.

“My colleagues and I in the Executive Board think that five monetary policy decisions per year is enough to conduct a well-balanced monetary policy. We have a strong desire to be transparent with the background for monetary policy decisions and wish to publish a Monetary Policy Report with carefully prepared forecasts at every monetary policy meeting. However, this is a comprehensive undertaking that requires appreciable resources. We consider that we could make more efficient use of these resources,” says Stefan Ingves.

To facilitate the transition from six to five monetary policy meetings and provide the market with good notice, the Executive Board has also today decided on the dates for the meetings in the second six months of 2020. This decision is being announced six months earlier than normal. The dates for the Executive Board meetings in 2020 are to be published today in the calendar at riksbank.se. Next year's five monetary policy meetings will take place on 11 February, 27 April, 30 June, 21 September and 25 November. Like usual, the decision be published on the day following the meeting.

For more information on the Executive Board's considerations over the number of monetary policy meetings, see the basis for the decision.

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