The National Bank of Poland (NBP) has continued its strategy of securing the country’s financial stability through systematically increasing its monetary gold reserves since April this year. After purchasing additional tonnes in September, it has fulfilled its promise made in 2021. The president of the NBP had declared a desire to further increase the reserves by another 100 tonnes. According to a recent update of reserve assets and our own calculations, we currently have almost 334 tonnes of gold (around 333.72 tonnes) in our treasury. Our current reserves indicate that we are now ahead of Saudi Arabia in terms of gold reserves.
NBP Gold Vaults
Since April, the National Bank of Poland has purchased around 100 tons. In April 14.8 tons, May 19.9 tons, June 13.7 tons, July 22 tons, August 14.9 tons, and recently in September – according to our own calculations – over 19 tons. This gives us a total of almost 334 tons of gold (around 333.72 tonnes) in our treasury.
It’s worth knowing that monetary gold is an ideal element to diversify reserve structures. In the long term, it retains purchasing power, and if stored under one’s own control, it is devoid of counterparty risk. Furthermore, it is an asset of very high liquidity, which can be almost instantly converted into any currency, and demand for this precious metal exists practically all over the globe. Undoubtedly, having it increases the level of security.
Foreign analysts often point out that these relatively large gold purchases are also associated with the fact that Poland has its own currency, which is prone to fluctuations during periods of market turmoil, of which there is no shortage currently. The past few weeks have been dominated by news of the ongoing sell-off of American bonds, and the past weekend saw a huge surge in geopolitical risks related to tensions in the Middle East.
Climbing Up the Rank
According to the World Gold Council, in the second quarter of this year, Poland had the largest increases in terms of acquired gold (48.41 tons), thus surpassing China, which during this time increased its gold reserves by just over 45 tons. Our current 334 tons would therefore mean a leap several notches up (counting from the state of the second quarter of this year), from position 21 to 15. Outpacing Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, and Great Britain, among others.
However, we have to wait until the official confirmation of the advancement in the ranking of gold reserves per country is updated at the end of the third quarter of this year by the World Gold Council. We will then find out what purchases other countries made at the same time. Therefore, we can expect that Poland’s gold purchases are not isolated. Many central banks in the world have been systematically buying gold for a long time – says Aleksander Pawlak, CEO of Tavex. “Our gold purchases have not only allowed us to increase the country’s strategic financial security buffer but have also brought the NBP closer to the world’s central bank average in terms of gold reserves. At the value expressed in USD, they constitute 11.1%” – he adds.
Where is Our Gold?
In recent years, more and more central banks are realizing the risk of holding gold abroad. According to Invesco Global Sovereign Asset Management Study, conducted among central banks and asset funds, whose results were published in July this year, an increasing number of countries are taking steps to repatriate gold. This trend also accelerated after the West imposed sanctions on Russia in 2022 in connection with its aggression against Ukraine. The National Bank of Poland has also joined this trend of central banks bringing gold to the country. About 100 tons of gold were brought from London in the fall of 2019. Previously, only 4.9 tons were stored in Poland.
According to the NBP’s financial statement as of December 31, 2022, 104.9 tons were in Poland, while 123.8 tons were deposited abroad. In accordance with the declaration from 2021, the NBP should take steps in the next stage to repatriate the entire purchases made this year – says Tomasz Gessner, chief analyst at Tavex. “However, objectively speaking, storing part of the reserve assets in gold abroad, e.g., in vaults in London, can also have certain advantages. And the biggest of them is liquidity” – he adds.
