(Bloomberg) -- New Zealand expects to appoint a new Reserve Bank governor within weeks, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said.

The appointment "will be something we hope to announce shortly," Luxon told NewstalkZB Monday in Wellington. "We've got a couple of candidates. We're in a process at the moment."

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Asked whether the announcement would be in days or weeks, Luxon said "that will be weeks."

The central bank has been hunting for a permanent governor after Adrian Orr suddenly quit the role in early March, three years before his term was due to end. His deputy Christian Hawkesby stepped into the job on a temporary basis -- initially appointed for a six-month period that ends Oct. 7. Last month, Hawkesby indicated he has applied for the permanent role.

The RBNZ board is tasked with selecting the governor and making the recommendation to Finance Minister Nicola Willis. Luxon said that process was "well advanced" even as board chair Neil Quigley resigned with immediate effect late last week.

Luxon said Quigley made the right decision to step down following unsatisfactory handling of Orr's departure. Quigley originally said Orr left for personal reasons, but information released three months later showed a disagreement over the board's plans to accept a funding agreement from the government was behind the exit.

"There were issues there around the handling of the employment issue with the governor that wasn't as fully transparent as it needed to be," Luxon said today. He and Willis "were unhappy with the handling of it. It could have been much better done and and more transparent," he said.

Willis told local media late Friday she would have dismissed Quigley had he not resigned.

Luxon said he doesn't feel the RBNZ has suffered reputational damage as a result.

"I don't think it's a mess at all," he said. "It would've been more of a shambles if it had carried on much longer, frankly. I think he made the right decision actually thinking about any reputational damage that would've carried on."

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