• The new Reserve Bank Governor will be announced tomorrow at 1pm.
• Adrian Orr resigned in March after a dispute, leading to Neil Quigley’s resignation last month.
• Bloomberg suggests a woman may be appointed, with Sarah Breedon as a prominent contender.

The new Reserve Bank Governor is expected to be announced tomorrow at 1pm.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis today released a media advisory for a Reserve Bank announcement in the Beehive theatrette.

The previous Governor Adrian Orr stepped down in March, and the Reserve Bank has said the replacement process is well advanced.

The naming of the new Governor follows a tumultuous period for the RBNZ.

Orr resigned abruptly in March following a dispute with the Minister and the board over funding.

The subsequent fallout from Orr’s departure resulted in the resignation of the chairman, Neil Quigley last month.

His replacement is also due to be named in the coming weeks.

Since March, stability in the Bank’s management team has been provided by Christian Hawkesby, who had been the deputy governor stepping into the acting role.

He has indicated that he did apply for the Governor role.

However, earlier today, Bloomberg News Service tipped that a woman would be appointed to the role.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, Bloomberg didn’t identify the new Governor but said it could be a foreign appointment.

Of various possible contenders tipped in the past few months, Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden stands out as one of the only females in the mix.

Local contenders were believed to include former Treasury chief economist Dominick Stevens and former RBNZ chief economist John McDermott, who now heads up think tank Motu.

Monetary Policy Committee member Prasanna Gai had also been tipped as a possible candidate.

Others that had been mentioned as possible contenders included David Ramsden from the Bank of England and Guy Debelle, an Australian economist who is the former Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Breeden is currently the deputy governor in charge of financial stability at the Bank of England. She also sits on the BoE monetary policy committee.

Another possible female contender that has been speculated on is American economist Catherine Mann, who is also a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee.

She visited New Zealand for the RBNZ conference in March.

Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.