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Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank, announced Friday it has appointed NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to take over as its next governor after his term leading the military alliance ends later this year. The central bank announced the appointment in a statement on its website, saying Stoltenberg had been appointed by Norway’s King Harald V. Stoltenberg will take over from current Norges Bank Governor Øystein Olsen, who is retiring later this month after holding the position since Jan. 1, 2011. The 62-year-old Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway, also served as finance minister from 1996 to 2000. He had previously said if he got the central bank governor position, he wouldn’t be able to start before leaving his NATO job on Oct. 1. The central bank statement said it hopes Stoltenberg can start in his new role by Dec. 1. Until then, Norges Bank Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache will run the bank in an interim capacity beginning March 1. In a statement, Norway’s current finance minister, Trygve Slagsvold, said he had been “concerned with identifying the best central bank governor for Norway, and I'm convinced that this is Jens Stoltenberg.” The appointment ends speculation that Stoltenberg would stay on at NATO, and the search for a successor must now begin ahead of a meeting of member nation leaders in June this year. Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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