The head of Poland’s central bank on Thursday said he wants the institution to acquire an additional 150 tonnes of gold for ‘national security reasons’, and to ensure the stability of the zloty currency.
Poland, a NATO member and neighbour of Russia and Ukraine, is one of the few European Union countries not to have adopted the euro single currency.
‘I intend to approach the management of the National Bank of Poland with the intention of increasing our bank’s reserves to 700 tonnes (of gold),’ said Adam Glapinski.
Poland’s gold reserves are currently 550 tonnes.
Glapinski did not give a timeframe for acquiring the increase.
He estimated that the value of gold currently held by the bank was about $76.5 billion, which corresponds to ‘nearly 30 per cent of the NBP’s total reserves’.
‘Times are exceptionally tense, as you know… We have a particular situation and geographical location. We have our own currency, the zloty,’ Glapinski went on.
As such, ‘it is particularly important for Poland to have a substantial stock of gold in our reserves’, he added.
The NBP has aligned itself with a trend seen at many central banks around the world, which have largely continued to increase their purchase of gold.
Purchases are up 10 per cent compared with the same period a year ago, according to data from the World Gold Council, which promotes and regulates the gold market.
Glapinski said last year that the NBP had acquired ‘more than 100 tonnes of gold’.
The precious metal hit unprecedented highs at the end of the year, buoyed in particular by economic and geopolitical uncertainty.