At yesterday's press conference following the NBP interest rate decision, Governor Adam Glapinski revealed that Poland holds 632.4 tonnes of gold worth PLN 308 billion, with PLN 127.5 billion in unrealised profit. Poland has bought 82 tonnes already in 2026, taking advantage of a March price correction. The target is 700 tonnes. Poland's gold reserves are already larger than the European Central Bank's. This is the full story of how a country that held 14 tonnes of gold in 1996 became one of the most aggressive central bank gold buyers on earth.
Announced yesterday at the NBP press conference following the Monetary Policy Council interest rate decision. Governor Glapinski confirmed all figures in Polish at the conference. Bloomberg confirmed the 82 tonnes of 2026 purchases. Source: Bloomberg, WNP.pl, Dorzeczy.pl, 8-9 July 2026. Bloomberg source: bloomberg.com
At the press conference following the MPC decision on 8 July 2026, Governor Adam Glapinski confirmed that the National Bank of Poland currently holds 632.4 tonnes of gold worth PLN 308 billion. Unrealised revenues from gold price movements amount today to PLN 127.5 billion. This is the difference between the market price and the average purchase price paid by the NBP. If we were to sell all the gold we hold today, which is neither necessary nor appropriate, we would realise exactly that profit, PLN 127.5 billion, Glapinski stated.
Poland's central bank bought 82 tonnes of gold in 2026 so far, Glapinski said at a news conference in Warsaw on Thursday. The bank is buying billions of dollars worth of gold as prices dipped in recent months. The March 2026 price correction, when gold fell from above USD 5,400 per ounce to around USD 4,100, a drop of more than 24%, provided the buying opportunity. This period appears to have been used by the central bank to increase its holdings significantly. Taking price levels into account, it is estimated the NBP increased its gold holdings by approximately 417,000 ounces or nearly 13 tonnes during the March correction alone.
Glapinski also confirmed the ongoing accumulation strategy. We are accumulating gold consistently toward 700 tonnes in accordance with our plan, he stated. We have purchased a total of 529 tonnes of gold since I began leading the bank. Since Glapinski took office as NBP Governor in June 2016, Poland has acquired 529 tonnes of gold, growing its reserves from approximately 103 tonnes to 632 tonnes today, a more than sixfold increase in a decade.
The NBP holds just 14 tonnes of gold. Poland's reserves are negligible by global standards. The country is focused on EU accession preparations and NATO membership.
Glapinski becomes NBP Governor in June 2016. At the time, Poland holds approximately 103 tonnes of gold. He begins a systematic accumulation programme, citing gold as a strategic asset for state security.
Poland makes its first major headline purchase: 100 tonnes in 2018 and a further 25.7 tonnes in 2019, part of which was repatriated to Warsaw from the Bank of England. The repatriation was explicitly framed as a strategic sovereignty decision.
Buying accelerates following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In the first 11 months of 2024, the NBP added more gold to its reserves, 95 tonnes, than any other central bank globally according to the World Gold Council. Poland becomes the world's most aggressive central bank gold buyer.
NBP announced that for the first time its gold reserves were larger than those of the European Central Bank. A symbolic milestone: the central bank of a country of 37 million people holds more gold than the institution that manages monetary policy for 350 million eurozone citizens.
The NBP announced plans to increase its reserves to 700 tonnes, which would place Poland among the elite ten countries with the largest gold reserves in the world, ahead of the Netherlands at 612.5 tonnes and Turkey at 641.3 tonnes. Glapinski stated explicitly that selling gold is absolutely out of the question.
Gold corrects sharply from above USD 5,400 to USD 4,100 per ounce, a 24% pullback. The NBP takes advantage of the correction to accelerate purchases, adding approximately 13 tonnes during March alone. Total holdings reach approximately 583 tonnes by end of March.
Glapinski confirms 632.4 tonnes at PLN 308 billion market value. PLN 127.5 billion unrealised profit. 82 tonnes bought in 2026 to date. 700-tonne target reaffirmed. Poland is approximately 68 tonnes from the global top ten.
| Rank | Country / Institution | Gold Holdings | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 8,133t | Unchanged for decades · Fort Knox and other vaults |
| 2 | Germany | 3,352t | Largely repatriated to Frankfurt from New York and London |
| 3 | Italy | 2,452t | One of Europe's largest holders |
| 4 | France | 2,437t | Has resisted selling despite periodic political pressure |
| 5 | Russia | ~2,336t | Aggressive buyer before sanctions · now partly frozen |
| 6 | China | ~2,264t | Official figure · actual holdings likely significantly larger |
| 7 | Switzerland | 1,040t | Stable for many years |
| 8 | Japan | 846t | Stable |
| 9 | India | ~841t | Aggressive buyer since 2022 · rising fast |
| 10 | Netherlands | 612.5t | Poland at 700t would move ahead of this |
| 11 | Turkey | 641.3t | Poland at 700t would move ahead of this |
| 12 | ECB | ~506t | Poland already holds more gold than the ECB |
| 11/12 | Poland (current) | 632.4t | 68 tonnes from 700t target · will enter top ten on completion |
The PLN 127.5 billion unrealised profit figure Glapinski cited yesterday is not simply a balance sheet observation. It has become the centre of a significant political and monetary policy debate in Poland about how to fund the country's defence spending programme without taking on external debt.
NBP Governor Glapinski has proposed channeling central bank profits toward a 185 billion zloty defence fund, a sovereign alternative to borrowing from the European Union. The plan would provide interest-free funding for Poland's military buildup without adding a single zloty of external debt. The mechanism being discussed involves either revaluing gold reserves upward and redirecting the resulting accounting gains, or conducting a sale and repurchase transaction on part of the gold holdings to realise profits that would then flow to a defence investment fund within BGK, the Polish development bank.
President Nawrocki, before refusing to sign legislation on SAFE, submitted his own draft to parliament proposing financing the military from profits generated by the sale of gold purchased in recent years by the NBP. Nawrocki named his proposal Polish SAFE 0 percent. According to his office, with wise management of NBP reserves, it is possible to generate approximately PLN 200 billion over the next four to five years to redirect to the proposed Polish Defence Investment Fund without depleting the reserves.
The proposal raises serious concerns. Revaluing gold reserves upward and using the resulting paper profits for fiscal purposes is a well-worn central banking manoeuvre that Italy and France have periodically flirted with. It is not the same as dumping bullion on the open market, but it does raise questions about whether a central bank is effectively printing money with extra steps. Glapinski has repeatedly stated that the NBP purchased gold not for resale. In January, the bank set a target of 700 tonnes. Gold prices have been rising for two years and in January they were not materially different from today. So what explains the sudden change in stance? No explanation comes to mind other than a desire to assist the president in proposing alternatives to SAFE. Whether the gold profit mechanism is genuinely financially sound or primarily politically motivated is a live debate among Polish economists.
The NBP's gold accumulation programme under Glapinski is genuinely remarkable by any standard of central bank behaviour. Growing from 14 tonnes in 1996 to 103 tonnes in 2016 to 632 tonnes in 2026 required sustained political commitment, disciplined buying across multiple price cycles, and a clear strategic rationale that Glapinski has articulated consistently: gold is not an investment, it is a reserve asset that provides sovereign financial security independent of any counterparty. Poland holds no gold overseas at the Bank of England or the Federal Reserve. It is all in Warsaw. That repatriation decision, taken in 2019, reflected the same strategic logic as the Baltic Pipe gas diversification and the Naftoport crude oil transition: reduce dependence on infrastructure and institutions that exist outside Polish sovereign control.
The PLN 127.5 billion unrealised profit figure is the number that will dominate Polish financial headlines following yesterday's press conference. At the current gold price, Poland's gold reserves are worth PLN 308 billion, and the profit above the average acquisition cost is PLN 127.5 billion, a figure that exceeds Poland's entire annual defence budget of PLN 186 billion by two thirds. That number sitting on the NBP balance sheet while Poland debates how to fund its PLN 185 billion defence programme without EU loans is a political reality that Glapinski and President Nawrocki have both noticed and are now actively trying to mobilise. Whether the mechanism they propose is monetarily sound or represents a form of central bank deficit financing through the back door is a question that the NBP's institutional independence, the European Commission's state aid rules, and Poland's own monetary policy framework will all eventually be brought to bear on.
What is not in question is the scale of the achievement. Poland is now the eleventh or twelfth largest gold holder in the world. It holds more gold than the European Central Bank. It bought 82 tonnes in 2026 alone, more than most central banks hold in total. At 700 tonnes it will be inside the global top ten for the first time. A country that thirty years ago held less gold than a mid-sized commercial bank now holds one of the most significant sovereign gold reserves on earth. Whatever one thinks of Glapinski's monetary policy, that accumulation record is one of the defining financial decisions of post-communist Polish economic history.
This article is produced by Fides Polonia Capital Management for informational purposes only based on the NBP press conference of 8 July 2026 and Bloomberg reporting of 9 July 2026. All Glapinski quotes are sourced from WNP.pl and Dorzeczy.pl Polish-language reporting of the press conference as cited. Gold holdings rankings are approximate and subject to revision as central banks report updated figures to the World Gold Council quarterly. Fides Polonia Capital Management has no financial interest in gold, NBP instruments, or any related financial product. Nothing in this article constitutes investment advice.