President Barack Obama is planning to nominate Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to take over as vice chairman of central bank in Washington, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Journal said the White House has also chosen two other nominees to fill vacancies on the Fed's seven-member board, although it said those names could not be learned late Thursday.

Obama administration officials confirmed Yellen is a leading candidate but said the selection was not yet finalized. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the selection process publicly.

Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn's decision to step down at the end of June opened a third seat on the board, giving Obama a chance to put a bigger imprint on the central bank. His selections would have to be confirmed by the Senate.

The openings at the Fed have stirred debate over the future direction of interest-rate policy at the Fed. Given the fragile state of the economic recovery and the high jobless rate, Obama may come under pressure to choose people who are considered "dovish": more inclined to keep interest rates low to spur growth and fight unemployment than to raise them to control inflation.

Yellen is considered to be in that camp.

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Associated Press writer Jeannine Aversa contributed to this report.