Polish central bank increases gold holdings target to 30% of reserves

Poland’s central bank will seek to increase its gold holdings to 30% of its reserve assets, the bank said on Wednesday, as it seeks to bolster the country’s financial security.

The National Bank of Poland said the scale and pace of purchases would depend on market conditions.

“In these difficult times of global turmoil and the search for a new financial order, gold is the only safe investment for state reserves,” NBP Governor Adam Glapinski was quoted as saying in an emailed statement. Glapinski had said last week he planned to put forward a motion to the bank’s management board on increasing the reserve target for gold to 30%.

The NBP has ramped up its gold buying since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and it now holds more than 515 tonnes of the metal, comprising about 22% of its total official reserve assets. The total value of NBP foreign exchange reserves amounts to more than 953 billion zlotys ($261 billion), the NBP said.

($1 = 3.6513 zlotys)

(By Karol Badohal; Editing by Hugh Lawson)