Brussels 04.02.2022 NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg,62, will become Norway’s next central bank governor, officials said Friday, February 4.

While Stoltenberg’s tenure at NATO ends later this year, Norway government announced his appointment at the central bank in a statement and said it hoped he could start in his new role around December 1.

The current governor of Norges Bank, 70-year-old Øystein Olsen, is retiring this year after holding the position since January 1, 2011, for two terms.

The appointment is aligned with Stoltenberg curriculum: he has already had an experience as Finance minister from 1996 to 2000, and Prime minister from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2005 until 2013. 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 October 1.

Stoltenberg became NATO secretary-general in 2014, and after a successful first term, his mandate at the trans-Atlantic alliance was extended.

Stoltenberg, an economist by training and former leader of Norway’s 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.

The appointment is unlikely to change the course of monetary strategy, which to a significant degree relies on staff recommendations and forecasts, as well as consensus-building on the five-member policy committee, economists explained.