The National Bank of Poland (Narodowy Bank Polski) has announced that it has increased its gold bullion reserves to 228.6 tonnes; some way off neighbouring Germany’s 3,367.9 tonnes but still an increase that makes it the largest gold reserve holder in central Europe.
In a press statement released on Friday, the NBP revealed it had more than doubled their holdings in the past two years. So far in 2019 the NBP has added 100 tonnes of gold to Poland’s reserves, having bought 25.7 tonnes last year.
The bank has been pursuing gold in line with the global trend of increasing reserves to protect against economic uncertainty. It began providing updates last July; 2 tonnes of gold added that month, a further 7 tonnes in August, 4.4 tonnes in September, and then 8.7 tonnes spread between October and December.
The president of the NBP, Adam Glapinski, said: "Carrying out our constitutional, legal and simply patriotic obligation, we are not only building the economic strength of the Polish state, but also creating reserves which will guard its financial security.
“Such is the global trend but also the expectation of Polish society."
The NBP also announced in its Friday statement that it would be repatriating half of the nation’s gold, which is currently held by the Bank of England in their London vaults. The move back to Warsaw is seen as long-term, with the Polish central bank looking to keep these reserves for the foreseeable future and thus not need quick access to the London bullion market.
You can read the full press statement from Narodowy Bank Polski below:
https://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/aktualnosci/wiadomosci_2019/zlotoNBP.html
.
China continues to buy
The People’s Bank of China has also continued its policy of increasing the national gold reserves, adding 10.26 tonnes of gold to its reserves in June. The central bank has now officially added to China’s gold reserves for the past seven months, bringing in an additional 85 tonnes since December. This brings China’s total gold holdings to 1,926.5 tonnes.
