#FOMCMeeting The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the body within the Federal Reserve System that is responsible for formulating monetary policy. It comprises 12 members: the seven members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and the presidents of four of the other eleven Federal Reserve Banks on a rotating basis.

Key Functions of the FOMC:

* Setting the federal funds rate target: This is the target rate that banks charge each other for the overnight lending of reserves. While the FOMC doesn't directly set this rate, it influences it through open market operations.

* Directing open market operations: This involves the buying and selling of U.S. government securities in the open market to influence the supply of money and credit in the U.S. economy.

* Assessing economic conditions: The FOMC regularly reviews economic and financial data to understand current trends and potential risks.

* Communicating monetary policy: Through its post-meeting statements and the Fed Chair's press conferences, the FOMC conveys its policy decisions and economic outlook to the public.

FOMC Meetings in 2025:

The FOMC holds eight regularly scheduled meetings per year, typically lasting two days. Here is the schedule for the remaining FOMC meetings in 2025:

* May 6-7: This meeting is currently underway. The decision will be announced today, May 7th, at 2:00 PM Eastern Time (11:00 PM PKT). A press conference by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will follow at 2:30 PM Eastern Time (11:30 PM PKT). Markets widely expect the FOMC to maintain the federal funds rate in the current range of 4.25% to 4.50%.

* June 17-18

* July 29-30

* September 16-17

* October 28-29

* December 9-10

Meetings marked with an asterisk (*) are associated with the release of the Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), which includes FOMC participants' forecasts for key economic variables such as GDP growth, inflation, and unemployment, as well as their projections for the federal funds rate.

Impact of FOMC Meetings: