(Bloomberg) — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Norges Bank’s Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache are among the candidates to be Norway’s next central bank chief.
The Finance Ministry received 22 applications by the Dec. 9 deadline, it said in an emailed statement. It reiterated that it expects to appoint a new chief in early 2022.
Wolden Bache, 48, has been pegged by economists as the most likely successor to Oystein Olsen, who announced in August he will step down at the end of February after an 11-year term. If chosen, she would become the first female central bank chief in Norway and only the third in the egalitarian Nordic region after Finland’s Sirkka Hamalainen-Lindfors and Denmark’s Bodil Nyboe Andersen.
Read More: Norway Could Make History With First Female Central Bank Chief
Reports in local media about Stoltenberg’s interest in the job have generated controversy. The 62-year-old has been prime minister of Norway twice and is affiliated with the ruling Labor Party. Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store is his political apprentice and a close friend.
Stoltenberg’s spokesperson has been cited as saying by local media previously that he wants to focus on his current job running until next October.
The Oslo-based bank has been one of the most hawkish among the developed nations, having embarked on a tightening cycle in September. With the oil-rich economy already above pre-pandemic levels, it is expected to raise rates borrowing costs again this month even as measures to stem the omicron variant have clearly raised the chances of the hike being postponed.
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