OSLO (Reuters) – NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg is one among those applying to be Norway’s next central banks governor. This was announced Tuesday by the country’s financial ministry.

“In November, the finance ministry approached me and asked if I would be interested in applying to this job. Stoltenberg stated that she has done the same now and is very excited for this job.

Stoltenberg stated that the job will be open starting March 1. However, Stoltenberg must first complete the NATO term which lasts until September 20, 2022.

Stoltenberg is an economist who was trained as a minister. He served as the Norwegian prime minister between 2000-01 and 2013-13, before becoming NATO chief in 2013. He also served as finance minister.

Ida Wolden Bache was Norges Bank’s deputy governor. She is widely considered an economist’s top choice for this job.

Successful candidates will have to set interest rates and oversee Norway’s sovereign wealth fund. It is the largest in the world, with $1.4 trillion of assets.

Stoltenberg holds an economics master’s degree but has never worked for the central bank.

Woldenbache has a doctorate of economics. Since April 2020, she is first-deputy governor. Her four-year tenure as executive director of monetary policies was followed by one year at the head of financial stability.

In Oslo, she was also an economist at Handelsbanken Capital Markets. Woldenbache will be the first woman to lead Norges Bank, more than 200-years after its founding.

Oeystein Osen, current governor, will be 70 years old in January. He announced that he would retire this February 10 months prior to his second 6-year term.

The majority of Norwegian public officials are retired by 70.

As is the norm when top-ranking government jobs in Norway, there were many students and retirees among the candidates.