DUBLIN (Reuters) - Irish Central Bank Governor Patrick Honohan will announce on Friday he intends to retire at the end of the year, nine months before his seven-year term was due to end, two sources familiar with the decision said.
"What he will be announcing is he plans to retire at the end of this year," one of the sources said, referring to a scheduled news conference on Friday where Honohan, 65, is due to present the Central Bank's annual report.
Honohan, who is also a member of the European Central Bank's (ECB) governing council, was appointed to his role at the height of the Irish financial crisis in September 2009 and tasked with restoring confidence in the country's banks and economy.
A leading academic economist, he oversaw a mass recapitalisation of the country's lenders and an overhaul of financial regulation and was part of the negotiations for the international bailout Ireland sought in 2010.
His retirement before the scheduled end of his term in September 2016 means the government will have to name a successor before parliamentary elections due early next year.
