Communications Blackout

A communications blackout is a self-imposed quiet period during which a central bank's policymakers and staff do not speak publicly about monetary policy or the economic outlook, covering a defined window before and around a policy meeting. The purpose is that the decision, and the reasoning published with it, arrive through the announcement rather than through remarks in the days before it. Each central bank sets its own window and publishes the rule; the length and what it covers differ, and speeches on unrelated subjects are usually still allowed. For a reader of the calendar this is a scheduling fact rather than a signal. It marks the period in which no further official commentary is expected, so anything attributed to the institution during it is worth checking against the institution's own channels. It says nothing about what the decision will be, and central banks are explicit that silence during the window carries no message.