How to Use the MT5 Economic Calendar

The economic calendar in MetaTrader 5 is a built-in tool that lists scheduled economic events such as central bank decisions, inflation prints, employment reports, and GDP releases. Traders use it to anticipate periods of higher volatility and to plan around events that can move the currency, commodity, index, or stock they are trading.

This guide covers what the MT5 economic calendar is, how to open and filter it, how to read the information shown for each event, and the practical considerations that affect how the calendar is best used at TIOmarkets.

What Is the MT5 Economic Calendar?

The MT5 economic calendar is a feature of MetaTrader 5 that displays scheduled economic releases and central bank events. Each event entry shows the date and time, the country or currency affected, the importance level, the previous reading, the market forecast, and the actual figure once released.

MT5 is the only one of the two MetaTrader platforms to include a built-in economic calendar. MT4 does not have one. Traders using MT4 typically rely on a third-party economic calendar in a browser, while MT5 users have direct access inside the platform.

The data shown in the MT5 economic calendar is provided by MetaQuotes, not TIOmarkets. The calendar is available to all MT5 users regardless of account type.

How to Open the Economic Calendar in MT5

To open the economic calendar in MT5, open the Toolbox window using Ctrl+T. The Toolbox sits at the bottom of the platform and contains several tabs including Trade, History, News, Mailbox, Calendar, and Journal.

Click the Calendar tab. The economic calendar opens, showing scheduled events for the current view period. Events that have already occurred are shown with actual values; upcoming events are listed with forecasts where available.

If the Toolbox is not visible, press Ctrl+T or select View > Toolbox from the top menu. If the Calendar tab itself is missing, right-click on any visible Toolbox tab and ensure Calendar is enabled in the list of available tabs.

How to Filter Economic Events

The MT5 economic calendar can be filtered to show only the events relevant to your trading. The filters appear above the event list and let you control the date range, the countries and currencies shown, and the importance levels included.

The date filter offers presets such as Today, Tomorrow, This week, Next week, This month, and Previous week, along with a custom date range option for setting your own start and end dates.

The country filter lets you select one or more countries. A EURUSD trader might filter to show only events from the United States and the European Union. A USDJPY trader might add Japan. A trader focused on commodities tied to the US dollar might include only the United States.

The importance filter shows events by impact level. You can show Low, Medium, and High impact events independently or in combination. Many traders show only High impact events to focus on releases most likely to cause significant price movement.

A search box at the top allows you to find a specific event by name. Clicking column headers in the event list sorts by date, country, event name, or importance.

Understanding the Event Display

Each event in the calendar shows several columns. The Time column gives the scheduled release time. The Country column shows a flag and country code or currency code. The Event column gives the name of the release, such as Non-Farm Payrolls, CPI, or Interest Rate Decision.

The Importance column indicates expected market impact, represented by one, two, or three icons or bars. One is low impact, two is medium impact, and three is high impact.

The Actual, Forecast, and Previous columns show the released value, the consensus forecast from analysts before release, and the previous reading. The difference between Actual and Forecast often drives the immediate market reaction. A reading that beats forecast tends to strengthen the relevant currency for positive economic indicators such as employment or GDP, while a miss tends to weaken it. The direction of the reaction depends on the indicator type and the broader market context.

Double-clicking an event opens a detail view with a description of the indicator, the source, the frequency of release, and a historical chart of past values. This is useful for understanding what the event measures and how it has behaved historically.

Practical Considerations

Times in the MT5 economic calendar are displayed in MetaTrader server time by default. Server time at TIOmarkets is set by the platform server and may differ from your local time. Always verify the local time of a scheduled event before timing entries or exits around it.

High-impact events typically cause widening spreads and reduced liquidity in the seconds before and after release. Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. In fast-moving markets around news events, the fill price may differ significantly from the price shown at the moment you submit the order. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions.

For Standard accounts using the unlimited leverage feature on MT5, news event restrictions apply. From 15 minutes before to 5 minutes after a high-impact news release, the margin requirement reverts to 0.5% (1:200 leverage) on the unlimited leverage symbols. This is a built-in safety measure of the unlimited leverage model and is one reason traders using that feature monitor the economic calendar closely.

The calendar does not include every market-moving event. Speeches by central bank officials, geopolitical headlines, and surprise announcements often happen outside scheduled releases and are not in the calendar. Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown, particularly around such events. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements.

Trading at TIOmarkets

TIOmarkets offers MetaTrader 5 and MetaTrader 4 on desktop, web, and mobile, across four account types. The Standard account is created automatically on registration with a minimum deposit of $20 or currency equivalent. The Raw and VIP Black accounts are opened separately through the client area. The Nano account is MT5 only with a $20 minimum deposit, USD only. Hedging is supported on all accounts. A swap-free Islamic account is available; contact TIOmarkets for eligibility and instrument requirements. Copy trading is available on both MT4 and MT5.

Orders are executed at the best available market price, which may result in positive or negative slippage. Demo accounts often execute instantly and may not fully replicate live slippage conditions. Spreads are variable and are typically higher than minimum figures shown. Leverage on each instrument is subject to change depending on market conditions and applicable regulatory requirements. You can review the full list of account types on the TIOmarkets accounts page.