Bernanke to Hold Four Press Briefings Per Year After FOMC

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will hold press conferences after policy meetings four times per year in one of his biggest efforts to improve the central bank’s connections with a skeptical public.

The briefings will be broadcast on the Fed’s website and coincide with the Federal Open Market Committee meetings when officials update economic projections. The first will be April 27 at 2:15 p.m. Washington time, the Fed said today in a statement. The FOMC’s statement will be released at 12:30 p.m. on the days when Bernanke is speaking, instead of the usual time of 2:15 p.m., the central bank said.