OSLO (Reuters) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will become Norway’s new central bank chief, the government said on Friday, despite opposition worries that the appointment of the former prime minister could weaken Norges Bank’s independence.
While the job is open from March 1, Stoltenberg has said he would first serve out his term at NATO, which runs until the end of September 2022.
Stoltenberg will be in charge of setting interest rates and manage financial stability as well as overseeing Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets of $1.4 trillion.
“I’ve been concerned with identifying the best central bank governor for Norway, and I’m convinced that this is Jens Stoltenberg,” Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum said in a statement.
Stoltenberg, an economist by training and former leader of the Labour Party, was Norwegian prime minister from 2000-01 and 2005-13 before becoming NATO chief the following year. He has also been finance minister and energy minister.
Ida Wolden Bache, deputy chief of the central bank and Stoltenberg’s main rival for the job, will be the acting governor until Stoltenberg takes over, the government said.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Victoria Klesty)
