Ida Wolden Bache
Ida Wolden Bache (born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian economist who has served as the governor of Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank, since March 2022, the first woman to hold the position. Education. Hailing from Bærum, she graduated from Valler Upper Secondary School in 1992. Bache has an MSc (1999) from the London School of Economics and a PhD (2007) from the University of Oslo. During her studies, she was research assistant at the Department of Economics at UiO 1996–1998 and research assistant at Norges Bank 1998–2000. She was employed as a consultant, adviser and  senior adviser at Norges Bank 2000–2009 and held a post-employment position (20%) as associate professor in economics at BI Norwegian Business School 2008–2010. Career. She was Assistant Director in the Monetary Policy Department at Norges Bank 2009–2010, Senior Economist at Handelsbanken Capital Markets 2010–2013, Assistant Director in the Financial Stability Department at Norges Bank 2013–2015, Department Director in the same department from 2015 to 2016 and Department Director in the Monetary Policy Department of Norges Bank from 2016 to 2020. Deputy Governor of Norges Bank. She became Deputy Governor in 2020 after her predecessor had lost his security clearance . During her spring speech in 2021, Bache expressed doubt that cryptocurrency would replace the Norwegian krone. She notably said that: "If crypto is to replace the krone, the state must also make its payments and collections in a currency other than the krone". In November, she further expressed doubts about cryptocurrency, calling it a "threat". She stated: "The prevalence and scope is currently quite modest in Norway, but we point to possible channels through which cryptocurrencies can have effects on the financial system and pose a threat to the financial system in the long run". Governor of Norges Bank. in  December 2021, she applied to become the next governor of the Norwegian central bank, with her and Jens Stoltenberg seen as the most prominent candidates for the post. Controversy was caused when NRK listed only parts of her CV during a broadcast. The state broadcaster later corrected their mistake, then listing the missing parts of her CV. To begin with, Bache did not get the position, but accepted to become acting governor in the interim until Stoltenberg had finished his tenure as NATO Secretary-General. However, on 24 March, following a NATO summit about the war in Ukraine, Stoltenberg announced  that he would continue as NATO Secretary-General for another year and that he would resign as incoming governor. Bache was then nominated to fill the term that Stoltenberg was meant to take on. She was formally appointed to the position on 1 April at the Council of State. The same day as her appointment, Bache announced that Norges Bank would raise interest rates, stating: "As we now assess the outlook and the risk picture, the key policy rate will most likely be raised further in June".