By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The first job for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s new chief as she starts work on Monday is to make the central bank boring again, following a tumultuous period that dented its reputation and damaged the economy.

Anna Breman, the former number two at Sweden’s central bank and the first woman to lead the RBNZ, fills the role left vacant by controversial governor Adrian Orr in March, who fell out with the government over proposed funding cuts to the Reserve Bank. Orr’s former deputy, Christian Hawkesby, held the position on an interim basis.

Critics blame the central bank’s rapid-fire interest rate hikes and subsequent delay in pivoting to rate cuts under Orr for the country’s prolonged economic gloom.

He had a reputation as a maverick, who

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