Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Wednesday he has accepted the resignation of central bank governor Muhammad Ibrahim, but no decision has been made on a successor.
"We have not decided on his successor because we need to have the approval of the Agong before we can announce," Mahathir told a news conference, referring to the king.
The government would meet the king as soon as possible to discuss the succession, he said.
A Harvard University graduate, Muhammad was appointed as governor in May 2016 following the retirement of long-serving governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz. Muhammad joined the bank in 1984 and rose to become the deputy governor in 2010 before assuming the top spot.
His resignation comes after Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said last month that funds from a land sale made by the government to the central bank for about 2 billion ringgit ($502.51 million) were used to pay the liabilities of beleaguered state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
Muhammad had defended the decision to purchase the plot of land, saying the transaction complied with government requirements.
Two sources told Reuters on Tuesday that former deputy central bank governor Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, who left the bank when her term ended in November 2016, was among candidates being considered.